THE ATONEMENT
What Christ Accomplished
The
Bible portrays the cross event as the center point of history. Everything in the Old Testament looks forward
to this event and everything in the New Testament looks back to this event.
THE
NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT
When
we use the word “atonement” in the theological sense, we are referring to the
work that Christ accomplished on the cross.
1. A Sacrificial Atonement.
From earliest times, the Jew had built an altar for
sacrifice. To the altar would be brought
a lamb, white and without blemish. The
lamb would be laid across the altar and then, as it was held down, the Jewish
man would quickly and deftly cut its throat.
As the blood poured out upon the altar, the man would place his hand
upon the head of the dying lamb, signifying that this lamb was being identified
with his sins and that it was dying in his place.
Later, it was the Tabernacle and then the
When Jesus came on the scene, John the Baptist
announced Him as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John
1:29). The mention of a lamb who was to take away sin was a very familiar concept to the
Jew. He had a vivid picture in his mind
what this represented. Yet there was
something that was unique in the lamb described by John. The uniqueness was in the scope of
accomplishment. The death of this lamb
would take away the sins of the world.
None of the other animal sacrifices had been able to
accomplish this. A lamb could be slain
for the sins of a man. A lamb might
occasionally be slain for the sins of a family.
There were even times when a lamb was sacrifices for the sins of the
entire nation. But
never had there been a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7).
...For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed
(1 Corinthians 5:7b).
...Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us,
an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Ephesians 5:2b).
Jesus fulfilled the principle of the sacrifice when He
died upon the cross. It was a once and
for all sacrifice that never needs to be repeated. This stands in contrast to the Roman Catholic
doctrine of the “perpetual sacrifice of Christ.” The Council of Trent stated that, since the
priesthood of Christ is perpetual, so also the sacrificial offering must also
be perpetual. It went on to say that the
mass is the true and proper sacrifice—that the mass is the actual sin removing
sacrifice of Christ. By contrast, the
Bible teaches that our sins are removed by His once for all sacrifice.
10 By this
will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all. 11 And every priest stands
daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all
time, sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:10-12).
The writer to the Hebrews could not be more
explicit. He notes both that our
salvation took place through the once for all offering of Jesus and that this
one sacrifice for sins was for all time.
The fact that Jesus subsequently sat down at the right hand of God is a
sign that the work has been accomplished and never need be repeated.
2. A Vicarious Atonement.
The principle of vicariousness includes the idea of a
legal representative. Jesus served as
our representative when He went to the cross in the same way that Adam acted as
our representative when he sinned.
18 So
then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even
so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all
men. 19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many
were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be
made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19).
I was not in the Garden of Eden when Adam sinned, yet
his sin brought about not only his own fall, but the fall of the entire human
race. He acted the part of our legal
representative. In the same way, the
death of Christ on the cross was as a representative for me. Galatians 2:20 says that I have been
crucified with Christ. I had a legal
representative on the cross that died in my place.
3. A Substitutionary Atonement.
The concept of a substitute was an inherent part of a
sacrifice. Isaiah spoke of One who would come to take sins upon Himself. Isaiah used the image of a sacrifice to
describe this substitution.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him. (Isaiah 53:6).
Jesus died in our place and instead of us. He was our substitute. He took our place on the cross, dying the
death we deserved. Then He calls us to
take His place as sons and children of God and co-heirs with Christ.
Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us‑‑
for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
When we read the Gospel accounts, we learn that the
Romans had originally set aside three crosses.
There were three thieves who were destined to hand upon those
crosses. They had been apprehended,
judged, and found to be guilty. They
were placed under the sentence of death.
But one of them never went to the cross.
His name was Barabbas. Instead,
another man went to the cross in his place.
Jesus died upon the cross of Barabbas and Barabbas
went free. It wasn’t that Barabbas did
not deserve to be on the cross. It
wasn’t that he was any better than the other two thieves. He was probably worse. What made the difference? A substitute was provided to die in his
place.
The cross to which Jesus was nailed had been set aside
for the execution of Barabbas. Barabbas
deserved to die. He was a thief and a
robber. He was guilty before the
law. But Jesus died on his cross instead
of Barabbas.
There is a sense in which Jesus died on a cross that
had my name on it. He died instead of
me. He died in my place and the judgment
of God that would have been directed against me was instead directed toward
Him.
13 And
when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt
consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken
it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14).
It was the custom of that day to post the crimes for which
a criminal was being executed on the cross where he hung. This would serve as a warning to other
would-be criminals. Do you remember the
inscription that was on the cross of Jesus?
It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The Jewish leaders didn’t like that and they
petitioned Pilate to have it changed, but he would not. And so, it remained.
This passage tells us that there was another
inscription posted on the cross that day.
It was an inscription unseen by human eyes. It was the inscription "consisting of
decrees against us and which was hostile to us." It was the inscription of our sins. Don't miss this! Your sins were nailed to His cross. This indicates that He died for you.
• Christ
died - that's history.
• Christ
died for you - that's salvation.
A student was taking a test in college and he wrote on
his exam, “Only God could pass this test.”
When he got it back, the professor had written on it, “God gets an A
and you get an F.” Christ took
the test and nailed it to His cross. He
passed the test for you. And then He
said, “No more tests!”
4. A Penal Atonement.
The penal nature of the atonement is seen in the fact
that the death of Jesus was a punishment for sin. It was the payment of a penalty.
Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us‑‑
for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
Sin brought about a curse on the sinner. Jesus took that curse upon Himself. As He hung upon the cross, He cried out the
word, “My God! My God! Why have You
forsaken Me?” There was a reason for the
cry. It indicated that the Father was
turning His back on the Son and bringing judgment against Him.
There was a moment in history when the First Person of
the Trinity was sonless and when the Second Person of the Trinity was
Fatherless—when the innocent Son of God was treated as though He were a guilty
sinner. He took upon Himself our
penalty.
5. A Propitiatory Atonement.
Propitiation refers to that which satisfies anger;
that which appeases. The concept of
propitiation is illustrated in the work of the high priest in the temple. This is brought out by the writer of the
epistle to the Hebrews when he likens the work of the high priest to that which
was accomplished by Jesus.
Therefore,
He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation
for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17).
When you speak of Jesus being a high priest, that takes you back to the
Once a year, on the Day of
Atonement, the high priest of
Now
even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly
sanctuary. 2 For there was a tabernacle
prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand
and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place.
Behind
the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, 4 having a
golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with
gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which
budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory
overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in
detail. (Hebrews 9:1-5).
Notice the phrase “mercy seat” in verse 5. That is the Greek word ilasthrioV. Neither is
this an unusual translation, for every time you see a reference to the Mercy
Seat in the Old Testament, it is translated in the Septuagint in this same
manner.
What was the Mercy Seat? It was the top of the Ark of the
Covenant. This was the seat of God. It served as the throne of God within the
The
The
Pieces: The fact that we have sinned and
broken God's law
The
Manna: God's gracious and nourishing
provision
Aaron's
Rod: God's
appointment of a Mediator
Once a year, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the
High Priest would enter past the two veils into the Holy of Holies. He would come to the mercy seat. He would sprinkle the blood of goats and
calves onto the mercy seat. This would be
a satisfactory payment for the sins of the nation — until next year when it all
had to be done over again. This is a
picture of what Jesus did for us. He is
both sacrifice and high priest.
Over the years there had been many high priests. Generation after generation had served this
high office. Each year, for over a
thousand years, a high priest had entered the
But
when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered in
through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but
through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained
eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11‑12).
Jesus did not offer the blood of animals in a
temple. He gave His own blood on the
cross. He served as both High Priest and
as sacrifice. And then He entered, not a temple, but heaven itself. And He is there today as our High Priest.
• Propitiation
presupposes the wrath of God (Romans 1:18; Ephesians 2:3).
In the ancient world, when one thought that he had
committed some offense against one of the deities, he would go and offer a
sacrifice of appeasement. By doing so,
he would try to assuage the anger and the wrath of that deity. Thus, propitiation refers to satisfying the
wrath of one who has been offended.
Your sin has offended God. It makes you deserving of the anger and the
wrath of God. That is the bad news. The good news is that Jesus was the satisfaction. He satisfied the righteous judgment of God.
On the wall of the
|
Means |
Death of Christ |
|
Place |
The Cross |
|
Result |
The Remission of Sins |
Some people have a problem recognizing the truth of
God’s wrath. That is because they have
an inadequate view of both the absolute righteousness of God and the awfulness
of sin.
• The
price of propitiation was the blood of Christ, although it is appropriated
through faith. Romans 3:25 speaks of how
God has displayed Jesus Christ publicly as a propitiation in His blood
through faith. The blood of Christ
is the sign of the death of Christ. When
we speak of the One who shed His blood, we are speaking of a life that was
given.
• Even
though the result of propitiation was the appeasement of God’s wrath, the
initiation of that propitiation was based upon God’s love. In this is love, not that we loved God, but
that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1
John 4:10).
It is not that the Son forced the Father to love us;
He already loved us. Neither is it that
the Father forced the Son to die for us; He gave Himself for us.
• The
propitiation provided by Jesus was sufficient for the whole world. Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our
sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world (1 John
2:2). In the Old Testament, the sheep
died for the shepherd. In the New
Testament, the Shepherd died for the sheep.
6. An Expiatory Atonement.
The idea of expiation is closely linked to the concept
of propitiation. These can be understood
in contrast to one another.
|
Propitiation |
Expiation |
|
To appease or satisfy
wrath. |
To erase or remove guilt. |
|
Directed toward the anger
of God. |
Directed toward the quilt
of man. |
|
The sacrifice in the |
...by covering the guilt of
the sins committed. |
When the High Priest sprinkled the blood upon the Seat
of Satisfaction, the blood served as a covering to cover the guilt of the
nation. The word “atonement” in the Old
Testament is translated from the Hebrew word Kippur—it describes a
“covering.” The death of Christ covered
our sins and removed them as far from us as the east is from the west
(Psalm 103:12).
7. A Redemptive Atonement.
Redemption presupposes slavery. The institution of slavery was common
throughout the ancient world. Abraham
had come out of
Under most legal codes of those days, a slave was
merely a piece of property with little or no personal rights. If you killed another man’s slave, you might
suffer the same punishment as if your had killed his cow.
There were a number of ways in which a man might
become a slave. He might be born into
slavery. The son of a slave was himself
considered to be a slave. Or he might be
captured by an invading army and become a prized captive, led away in chains to
a foreign country to be sold as a slave.
Or he might fall into debt so that he was forced to declare
bankruptcy. This involved selling
yourself into slavery to pay the debts that were owed.
Picture the situation.
An Israelite living in the
Now
if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a
countryman of your becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a
stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s
family, 48 then he shall have redemption right after he has been
sold. One of his brothers may redeem
him, 49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son,
may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him or
if he prospers, he may redeem himself. (Leviticus 25:47-49).
If we look very closely, we can find four
qualifications which were necessary for a Kinsman Redeemer to accomplish this
redemption. It was only when a man
possessed these four qualities that he was permitted to perform this task.
• He
must be a Kinsman.
The passage is very specific that this redeemer must
be related to the one whom he is going to buy back out of slavery. There must be some family connection.
• He
must be Free Himself.
A slave was unable to purchase another slave. The most that a slave might be able to do
would be to free himself from slavery. Therefore, a Kinsman Redeemer must himself be
free of the debt and of the bondage which had fallen on the one who was to be
redeemed.
• He
must be Able to Pay the Ransom Price.
If he did not have the necessary sum of money which
was required to pay the purchase price, then he would not be able to redeem his
relative. Good intentions were not
enough. He must have the wherewithal to
accomplish those intentions.
• He
must be Willing to Pay the Price.
It was not enough to have a kinsman who was able to
accomplish the work of redemption. He
must also be willing to make the sacrifice of paying the price. I imagine that there were a number of slaves
with rich uncles who just didn’t want to spend the money to release their
unfortunate relative from slavery.
Each of these qualifications was fulfilled in the
person of Jesus. God sent Him into the
world’s slave market to purchase men from their bondage to sin.
a. He was a Kinsman.
This is why it was necessary for God to become flesh -
to be born and to grow up and to walk this earth as a man. It was because only a man could die for other
men to buy them back from the bondage of sin and death.
Since
then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of
the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of
death, that is, the devil; 15 and might deliver those who through fear of death
were subject to slavery all their lives. (Hebrews 2:14-15).
God could not die, for He is eternal life and the
source of all life. It was only by being
born as a man and taking on human flesh and becoming a man that He could
experience death for us.
b. He was Free Himself.
Jesus was the only man since Adam who has ever been
free from sin. From the first sin in the
Garden of Eden to this day, all men are under this bondage. Another man could not die for my sins since
he would have to pay the penalty for his own sins. Only someone who is free from sin could be a
substitute for the sins of another.
For
we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one
who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus lived His entire life on earth without
committing a single sin. This qualifies
Him as the only free man.
c. He was Able to Pay the Ransom Price.
Even if there had been a man who had been without sin,
his death would not have had the infinite merit to pay for the sins of the
whole world. At best, the sacrifice of a
single finite man could atone for the sins on only a single man.
But the death of Jesus was not the death of a mere
man. It was also the death of an
infinite being. It was the death of God
in the flesh. God experienced
death. He died in our place. Only the death of such a One could have been
sufficient to save the world.
d. He was Willing to Pay the Ransom
Price.
Have
this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who,
although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a
thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
And
being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8).
Jesus learned obedience by coming to do the will of
the Father. No man took His life from
Him — He willingly gave up His life for us.
The story is told of a little boy who built a toy
wooden sailboat, sanding it and then painting it with great care. He loved his little boat and was heartbroken
when it was stolen. One day, as he was
walking down the street, he happened to see the boat in a craft shot. He went in and bought the boat. Holding it in his hands, he said, “Now you
are twice mine.” God created us and then
He purchased us for the highest possible price.
We are twice His.
8. A Triumphant Atonement.
The world looks at the cross and sees a scene of
defeat. They think a good teacher did
the best he could and it got him crucified.
But the truth is that the cross was a victory. It was a triumph over sin.
On the night of His betrayal and arrest, Jesus
said: Now judgment is upon this
world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out (John 12:31). The rest of the New Testament confirms the
triumphant victory of the cross.
...The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He
might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8b).
But
thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph
in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in
every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14).
When
He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them,
having triumphed over them through Him. (Colossians 2:15).
In the Roman world, when a general had won a great
victory, he was awarded the honor of a Triumph.
This was a glorious parade in which he rode in on a horse, leading a
host of captives in chains down the streets of the city. The Arch of Titus still stands in
7 But to
each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8
Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of
captives, And He gave gifts to men.” (Ephesians 4:7-8).
This passage has mistakenly been used by some to
describe the Lord moving taking believers to heaven. But the language does not describe
believers. The phrase “lead captivity captive”
was a byword among the Jews that described the conquest of an enemy (Judges
5:12; Psalm 68:18). This is a picture of
Jesus leading captives in victory. This
joining of the victory of Christ with His giving gifts to men has an Old
Testament counterpart.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12).
The conquering king would receive the booty from the
battle and then would distribute it to his most valiant warriors. The problem is that we have not been very
valiant. But the Bible teaches we
overcome through our faith. When we
believe, we get to participate in the booty of Christ’s victory. That booty consists of all the spiritual
blessings that we have in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3).
|
Aspect |
Presupposes |
|
Sacrificial Nature |
Inadequacy of
animal sacrifices |
|
Vicarious Nature |
Adam’s sin |
|
Substitution Aspect |
Man’s inability
to save himself |
|
Penal Nature |
A divine
judgment |
|
Propitiation |
God’s wrath
against sin |
|
Expiation |
Man’s guilt |
|
Redemptive Quality |
Man’s slavery
to sin |
|
Triumphant Nature |
The kingdom of
evil |
QUALITIES
OF THE ATONEMENT
1. The Atoning Work of Christ was Historically Objective.
The atonement is more than mere theory. It really happened in a real place and in
real time. If you could have gone back
to
This is in opposition to the Neo-orthodox position
that says it does not matter if there is a historical foundation to Christianity
as long as it is “real to you.” Those
sorts of word games fall far short of the Biblical concept of truth.
2. The Atoning Work of Christ was Final.
The atonement was a “once and for all” event. This was seen in the final cry of Jesus on
the cross. John 19:30 tell us that He
said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. What was finished? The work on the cross. The work He came to do. Our salvation.
This is in contrast to the Roman Catholic stance that
has a repetition of the Lord’s death in the offering of the Eucharist as well
as the addition to Christ’s work through the faithfulness of the saints and the
suffering of purgatory. The truth is
that Christ completed His work on the cross and no one need ever add anything
to that work.
3. The Atoning Work of Christ was Unique.
There has not been another Savior. There may be many roads that lead to
Jesus
said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to
the Father, but through
And
there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that
has been given among men, by which we must be saved. (Acts
4:12).
Jesus said that He is the only way of salvation. He is exclusive. Only He is able to atone for sins. That sounds narrow-minded to our postmodern
way of thinking. But truth is always
narrow-minded. Truth does not involve a
popularity contest. It keeps right on
being true even if nobody believes in it.
THE
EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT
There
are two commonly held views with regard to salvation. There is the Natural View that says man
brings about his own salvation and there is the Supernatural View that says God
intercedes on man’s behalf to bring about his salvation.
|
How
is Man Saved? |
|||
|
Natural
View |
Supernatural
View |
||
|
Man saves himself by self
effort |
Go accomplishes the work of
salvation through the death of His Son, Jesus, upon the cross |
||
|
|
How
does God save Man? |
||
|
|
Sacerdotal
View |
Evangelical
View |
|
|
|
Man is saved through the
partaking of the sacraments as the church dispenses salvation |
Man is saved through the
preaching of the Gospel. The Holy
Spirit brings salvation to those who believe. |
|
|
|
|
For
Whom Did Christ Die? |
|
|
|
|
For all men equally. |
For the elect. |
How
is a man saved? The Roman Catholic
Church says this salvation is dispensed through the sacraments—the Eucharist,
baptism, penance, and confession. By
contrast, the Scriptures tell us that the gospel is the power of God unto
salvation (Romans 1:16-17).
The
last question in this chart asks the question of the intended recipients of the
atonement. For whom did Christ die? There are two possibilities.
1. He died for all men equally.
If the death of Jesus accomplished the same thing for
all men equally, then we are left with two further possibilities:
• All
men are saved. There are some who have
assumed the Scriptures to be speaking only allegorically when speaking of the
last judgment or that hell is only temporary and that all men will ultimately
be saved.
• The
atonement only made it possible for some men to save themselves; it did not
actually save anyone.
2. He died for the elect.
This is not to say that the death of Christ was not
SUFFICIENT to save all men or even that the offer of salvation is not given to
all men. What it does mean is that the
atonement was EFFECTIVE in actually accomplishing the salvation of some.
EVIDENCES
FOR A PARTICULAR ATONEMENT
It
has been popular to speak of a “limited atonement” versus an “unlimited atonement.” But this is misleading. The atonement is not limited in its power to
save men. It is more appropriate to
refer to a “particular atonement” or an atonement that was designed to
accomplish the salvation of a particular group of people.
When
we speak of a “limited” or “particular” atonement, we do not mean by this that
the atonement was not sufficient to save all men, as though Christ would have
had to do more upon the cross in order to save more people.
The
death of Jesus Christ upon the cross is sufficient to save all men
everywhere. And yet, it does not
accomplish this. Why? Is it because of some shortcoming in what
Christ did upon the cross? There are two
possibilities:
First,
we could say that the death of Christ in itself does not guarantee the
salvation of ANYONE ‑ it merely makes salvation a possibility for all men
(anyone who believes in Christ of his own volition is then saved). The result of such a view can be summed up
like this...
|
Cross + Man's decision = Salvation |
The
alternative view would be to say that the death of Christ guaranteed the
salvation of those whom God, in accordance with His own plan and purpose, had
determined to save. It is on the basis
of the cross that God actively draws some to Himself, making them spiritually
alive so that they trust in Him as Lord and Savior. This view can be pictured like this...
|
Cross + God's inward call (which results in
repentance and faith) = Salvation |
1. The Emphasis of Scripture.
A great many logical arguments have been presented for
both the “limited” as well as for the “unlimited” views. Many of these are extremely convincing. However, the question is not which might be
the most logical, but rather, what does the Bible teach on this issue? The Scriptures go out of their way to
particularize who it is for whom Christ died.
• He
died for His people (Matthew 1:21).
• He
died for His friends (John 15:13).
• He
died for His sheep (John 10:11).
• He
died for His body ‑ the church (Ephesians 5:23‑26).
• He
died for the Elect (Romans 8:32‑34).
• He
died for Us (Titus 2:14).
How does this particularization take place? Jesus used the image of a shepherd and His
sheep to deal with this question.
I
am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John
10:11).
Many people today seem to think that the reason people
are or are not sheep is based upon whether they will believe or not
believe. They would say, “You are my
sheep because you believe,” or, “You are not my sheep because you do not
believe.” But Jesus said it
differently. He said...
“But
you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep.”
(John 10:26).
Jesus made the basis of whether or not they believe
dependent upon whether or not they had been chosen by God to be His sheep. This is just the opposite of the Arminian
teaching.
|
Arminian |
Jesus |
|
“You are not my sheep
because you have not believed.” |
“You do not believe because
you are not my sheep.” |
Another example of this type of language is seen in
Ephesians 5:25 where Paul tells husbands to love their wives “just as Christ
also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” The command loses much of its impact if
Christ loved everyone with an equal love and gave Himself equally for all. Is a husband to love all women with an equal
love? Not at all! He is to show a special love for his own
wife.
2. Only a Limited Number Actually Hear the
Gospel.
Although the Lord commanded His church to preach the
gospel to all the nations, it is also true that throughout the past He has
“permitted all the nations to go their own ways” (Acts 14:16). Indeed, Jesus praised His Father for having
HIDDEN the mysteries of the Gospel from certain men.
At
that time Jesus answered and said, “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and
didst reveal them to babes. 27 Yes, Father, for thus it was well‑pleasing in
Thy sight.” (Matthew 11:26‑27).
Jesus had just denounced Chorazin,
Sometimes we get the idea that when people hear the
gospel and do not accept it, God’s plan has somehow
failed. This is not the case. God has hidden His kingdom truths from
certain people and He has revealed them to others.
3. The Intercessory Work of Christ was
restricted to the Elect.
On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to
the Father. In that prayer, Jesus is
seen interceding on behalf of the elect.
“I
ask on their behalf; I do NOT ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom
Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.” (John 17:9).
Jesus made it a point to differentiate the elect from
the non‑elect in His prayers. He
specifically says that He does not ask on behalf of the world. It is unlikely that He would refuse to pray
for those for whom He was about to die.
4. The Evidence of Faith.
Faith is one of the evidences that the atonement has
been effected. The following Scriptures
indicate that faith is initiated by God.
And
when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of
the Lord; and as many as HAD BEEN APPOINTED to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48).
And
a certain woman named
For
to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only TO BELIEVE in Him, but
also to suffer for His sake. (Philippians 1:29).
If we have received the gift of faith from the Lord,
dare we assume that any of the spiritual gifts which we have received is not
obtained as a result of the work of Christ on the cross? If Christ died for each and every person,
then the gift of faith would have been given to all.
5. The Goal of the Atonement.
In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul makes
the point that men do not come to God on the basis of their intellectual reasonings. It is
not the intelligent who are chosen. In
fact, it is often just the opposite.
Not the wise, but the foolish.
Not the mighty, but the weak.
Not the noble, but the base and the despised.
I think it very likely that Paul sat back for a moment
and thought over the status of the membership of the church at
For
consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble (1 Corinthians 1:26).
Paul is speaking to believers. He exhorts them to consider their
calling. They have been called to Jesus
Christ. They are among those whom the
Father has drawn. There were very few
among the Corinthian believers who were rich or powerful or famous or influential. To be sure, Paul does not say that there were
not any wise, or that there were not any mighty, or that there were not any
noble. But the majority of the members
of the church did not fit into those categories.
Why? Why do
most Christians come from the ranks of the foolish and the weak and the base
and the despised? Karl Marx suggested
that it was because the oppressed classes and the weak turned to religion as a
crutch to hold them up and to stabilize them.
But this is not a Biblical answer. Paul says the reason Christianity is filled
with the foolish and the weak and the base and the despised is because God has
chosen those kinds of people to be in His kingdom. Notice the emphasis on God’s election. Again and again, Paul repeats that it is God
who has chosen.
26 For
consider YOUR CALLING, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but GOD HAS CHOSEN the
foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and GOD HAS CHOSEN the weak
things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the
base things of the world and the despised, GOD HAS CHOSEN, the things that are
not, that He might nullify the things that are, 29 that no
man should boast before God. 30 But BY HIS DOING you are in Christ Jesus... (1
Corinthians 1:26-30).
The phrase “God has chosen” is repeated three times in
this passage. It emphasizes the fact
that our calling and our salvation is God’s choice. God has not left these
things to blind chance. Rather, He has chosen
to follow a special plan as to who should be called.
This brings us to a question. Why hasn’t God chosen the wise? Why have the mighty and the noble been left
out? The answer is given in verse
29. It is so that no man should boast
before God. The reason God has
chosen the foolish and the weak and the base and the despised is so that no man
will be able to boast on his own account.
No man can ever say, “I found God as a result of my
great intellect.” No man has ever been
accepted by God because he was of noble birth.
No man has ever performed deeds mighty enough to merit his entrance into
God’s kingdom. You cannot even boast
that you were saved because you had the good sense to choose God and to
exercise faith in Him. He chose you.
The result of understanding this teaching is that God
is glorified. If a man were saved on the
basis of his own decision, then he might boast that he had the good sense to
come to Christ and to place his faith in Christ. Instead, we are taught that we have been chosen
apart from any merit that is within us that, just as it is written, “Let him
who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31). The result of a proper understanding of the
particular nature of the atonement will be that God is glorified as the One who
has brought about your salvation.
6. The Death of Christ either did away with...
• All
the sins of all men.
If this is the case, then it is impossible to deny
that all men would be saved. If all my
sins were settled on the cross, then there is nothing left for me to do to
obtain my salvation. It is
guaranteed. If all the sins of all men
are forgiven, then all men shall be saved and none shall come into condemnation. The problem with this sort of universalism is
that it goes directly against the clear teaching of the Scriptures (Daniel
12:2; Matthew 13:41-42); 25:31-46).
• None
of the sins of all men.
If Christ only made it possible for men to be forgiven
but did not actually atone for sins upon the cross, then we are all still in
our sins and no one can ever be saved.
By contrast, the Bible teaches that He Himself bore our sins in His
body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).
• Some
of the sins of all men.
If Christ only died for some of the sins of all
men—for example, if He did not die for the sin of unbelief—then we are still in
our sins, for it is impossible for us to atone for any of our own sins.
• All
the sins of some men.
This is a Biblical position. The death of Christ accomplished the
salvation of those whom God has chosen.
PASSAGES
THAT APPEAR TO BE UNIVERSAL IN SCOPE
There
are certain passages of Scripture that, taken at face value, would seem to
teach of a universal atonement. These
fall into several categories.
1. General Passages.
It can easily be demonstrated that not every passage
that uses the word “all” does so in a universalistic sense. There are times when a general statement is
made that obviously has a limited sense.
• Jesus
said to His disciples, “You will be hated by all on account of My name” (Matthew 10:22). That does not mean there were no exceptions
to this general rule.
• Paul
said, “All the Jews know my manner of life...” (Acts 26:4). This does not mean that there could not have
been certain Jews who had never heard of Paul of Tarsus. It is obviously a general statement.
• Joel
gives a prophecy in Joel 2:28 that God would pour forth His Spirit “upon all
mankind.” Peter quotes this prophecy
on the day of Pentecost and states that it is being fulfilled in his day. Does this mean that all men everywhere had
the Spirit of God? Or does it only refer
to all believers? The answer is
obvious. It refers to all believers.
2. Christ said that He would draw all men: “And I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
(John 12:32).
Does this teach a universal drawing of all men to
Christ? If it does, then it teaches too
much, since Jesus has already used this same term to describe the drawing of
certain men earlier in John’s gospel where he said, “No one can come to Me,
unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last
day” (John 6:44). He went on in that
context to say that those who were drawn by God will be taught of God (6:45)
and that they will certainly not be cast out (6:37).
Why then does John 12:32 say that Christ will draw all
men to Himself? First of all, we should
notice that the emphasis given by John’s own commentary on the words of Jesus is
not focused upon the universality of Christ’s drawing, but upon the kind of
death He should die. We see this in the
next verse: But He was saying this to
indicate the kind of death by which He was to die (John 12:33).
And yet, verse 32 DOES say something about drawing all
men. How are we to understand this? It must be seen in the context. Philip and Andrew have just brought some
Greeks to Jesus (John 12:20-22). This is
the first time this has happened in
Now some Greeks have been brought to Him. This takes place at the end of His earthly
ministry. He will soon be lifted up and
nailed to a cross. When He is lifted up,
He will draw all sorts of men, both Jews and Greeks.
Once Christ has gone to the cross, He will gather into
one body both Jews and Gentiles. There
will be no distinction between races or genders or social strata. His church will draw all to Himself.
3. Justification to All Men:
So then as through one transgression
there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of
righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. (Romans 5:18).
Does this mean that each and every man in the universe
has been justified? It does not. It anticipates two groups of people and
clearly refers to all of God’s chosen people.
This language is similar to what Paul says elsewhere: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22).
4. Salvation to all men:
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men (Titus
2:11).
The context makes it clear that Paul is speaking, not
of every man being saved, but of the fact that the gospel is preached to all
men. The previous verses mention all
sorts of men as Paul has given instructions to old men, old women, young women,
young men, and slaves. The basis for the
instructions to each of these groups is that the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to each of these groups.
5. God Desires All Men to be Saved. Paul says this in his first epistle to
Timothy. The context is helpful in
determining exactly to whom these “all men” refer.
1 First of
all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be
made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that
we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and
one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave
Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:1-6).
The question is asked specifically about verse 4: If
God really desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth, then why does He not save all men?
Why are some predestined to salvation while others are not? Why are some saved while others are not?
The Arminian answers this question by insisting it is
all bound up in the free will of man. He
maintains that God wants all men to be saved but has decided to do nothing
about that desire because He has an even greater desire to allow men to
exercise their own free will in choosing or not choosing to be saved.
The problem is twofold. First of all, the passage does not say or
even hint that all men are going to be saved, even though it does say that:
• We
are to pray for all men.
• God
desires all men to be saved.
• Christ
gave Himself as a ransom for all.
What does this mean?
It means that the love and concern of God is offered to all men. All men are commanded to repent and to
believe the gospel. Furthermore, it
means that the Lord grieves over man’s sinful condition. Jesus wept over the unrepentant city of
Is this a denial of the sovereignty of God or of the
particular nature of the atonement? Not at all. The same
God who weeps over the lost condition of all men also has moved into history to
regenerate the hearts of some and to bring them to Himself.
Paul alludes to this in the very next verse when he
says, And for this I was appointed a
preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher
of the Gentiles in faith and truth (1 Timothy 2:7). Notice that on the one hand, God desires
that all men be saved and Jesus serves as the ransom to that effect. On the other hand, it is obvious that, while
Paul was appointed as a preacher and apostle, this apostolic appointment has
not extended to every person. By the
same token, neither is the election to salvation extended to every person. Yet this is not a sign of some weakness on
the part of God, but rather it is in order that God's purpose according to
His choice might stand (Romans 9:11).
We can conclude by saying that two things are equally
true:
God
takes no pleasure in the final destruction of any.
God
finds pleasure in the salvation of every person who is saved.
God finds no joy in the death of any sinner. “Do I have any pleasure in the death of
the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his
ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23). The
question is rhetorical and obviously expects a negative reply. God is not vengeful or vindictive. The Creator does not delight in the
destruction of any person he has made, not even his enemies. He calls all men to be saved and to come to
the knowledge of the truth and He tells us that there is celebration in heaven
over every sinner who repents (Luke 15:7,10). He commands all to come to repentance. This command is universal. Paul said that God is now declaring to men
that all everywhere should repent (Acts 17:30).
6. God Desires all to come to Repentance: The Lord is not slow about His promise, as
some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish
but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
As we have pointed out, the Lord commands all to come
to repentance. At the same time, we
should note toward whom God is said to be patient. Peter does not say that God is patient toward
all men. He says that God is patient
toward YOU. This is because Peter has
just finished describing some men with whom God is not patient. But He is still being patient with you. To whom is Peter addressing his epistle? It is to those who have received a faith of
the same kind as ours (2 Peter 1:1). It
is to those who have been called and chosen by God (2 Peter 1:10).
If God had not been patient with us, waiting for us to
come to repentance, then none of us would be saved today. He has held off His judgment and He continues
to hold off that judgment until all have repented. It is because of this that Peter instructs us
to regard the patience of the Lord to be salvation (2 Peter 3:15).
7. Christ is the Savior of all Men, but especially
Believers: For it is for this we
labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the
Savior of all men, especially of believers (1 Timothy
4:10).
This passage is particularly striking because it seems
to establish a contrast between two different groupings of people: All men
versus believers.
|
Christ is the Savior of all men |
|
He especially saves believers |
Two possible interpretations have been presented for
this passage. The issue revolves around
our understanding of the Greek word malista,
translated in this passage as “especially.” Two possible meanings have been set
forth for this word:
• Most
of all, chiefly, especially.
This is the way it has been translated in the NAS, the
NIV, and the King James Version in each of the instances it is used. This is also the way the word has generally
been understood.
• Specifically,
that is.
The word malista is found a total of twelve times in the New
Testament. All but four of those
instances are by Paul. In most of these
instances, the translation could go either way and still make sense.
It must be noted that this is not the normal meaning
of the word. In 1979, T.C. Skeat
published an article in the Journal of Theological Studies that proposed this
alternate meaning of malista. George Knight takes this reading in his
commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. If
this were the case in this passage, it would be saying that Jesus is the Savior
of all men, specifically and by that to mean that He is the Savior of
believers.
The problem with this view is that it cannot be proven
that malista
has this alternate meaning anywhere in the Greek language. Furthermore, Paul could easily have used the
Greek phrase tout' estin
to get across the idea of “specifically” or “that is.” This phrase is regularly used throughout the
New Testament to convey this idea (Matthew 27:46; Mark 7:2; Acts 1:19; Romans 7:18;
9:8; 10:6-8; Philemon 1:12). Because of
this, we are obliged the reject Skeat’s rendering and proceed with the normal
use of the term.
What is this passage saying? It is saying that there is a sense in which
Christ can be said to be the Savior of the world while, in a special sense, He is the Savior only of those who believe.
In what sense can Christ be said to be the Savior of
the world? It is in the general sense in
which He redeems the world by redeeming a remnant of that world. There is coming a day when “all
8. Christ is the Propitiation for the Sins of the World: My little children, I am writing these
things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the
propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the
whole world. (1 John 2:1-2).
Jesus is said to be the propitiation both for our sins
(referring to the sins of believers) as well as for the sins of the whole
world. As in the previous passage, this
text makes it obvious that there are two distinct groups of people in
view. Who are they?
a. The world of believers.
This is the interpretation offered by John Murray. The writer would be saying, “It is not only
we disciples who are saved, but all other believers as well.”
However, of the 185 times that kosmos
(“world”) is used in the New Testament, not once does it offer such an
interpretation. John uses the term to
describe the world of mankind.
b. Jewish versus the Gentile world.
This view sees John, as the author of the epistle and
a believing Jew, speaking of how Christ is the propitiation of he and his fellow believing Jews as well as the propitiation
of believing Gentiles. This
interpretation fails to account for how kosmos can refer only to Gentile believers. Neither is there any indication that John is
addressing himself to Jews and not to the church at large.
c. The Elect versus the non-Elect.
This is the Arminian view. It states that Christ is equally the propitiation
for all men, both saved and lost. The
problem with this view is that if His propitiatory work is equal in all aspects
to all mankind and He is the propitiation both for the lost and for the saved,
then how can it be of any benefit to the saved?
If Jesus did not satisfy all of the wrath of
God toward all sins, then man must do something to save himself and we cannot
say that God saves sinners.
d. The Present Elect versus the Past and Future Elect.
This view would focus upon the perpetuity of the
propitiation that Jesus provided—that it extends to all time and is therefore
chronologically universal in its extent.
This interpretation is problematic in that the context makes no mention
of past, present, or future.
e. The Exclusiveness of Jesus.
This view suggests that the emphasis of the passage is
that Jesus is the exclusive means of propitiation for all men — that without
Jesus there is no other means of propitiation.
Jesus is not merely the Savior of John and his little religious
group. He is the Savior of all men who
are saved so that there is no other Savior.
The strength of this argument is seen in the fact that
Jesus, not the world, has been the subject of the book up to this point and
continues to be the subject of the rest of the book.
Each
of these passages has described the work of Christ as applying to the world or
to all men. If these verses are taken to
guarantee salvation and redemption and justification to all men, then we would
be forced to conclude a universal salvation.
I want to suggest that this is exactly what we are to conclude.
This
does not constitute a denial of the clear Biblical teaching of the eternal
punishment of the damned. It does
constitute a recognition of the Scriptural description
of salvation in universal terms.
Consider the following.
25 For I
do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise
in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until
the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and thus ALL ISRAEL WILL
BE SAVED; just as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, He
will remove ungodliness from Jacob." (Romans 11:25-26).
Is
all of
In
the same way, Peter could quote the prophet Joel as he pointed to the Pentecost
incident and cited that incident as the fulfillment of Joel’s words.
“‘And
it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will
pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind...’” (Acts 2:17a).
Was
the Spirit given to all men — literally, to “all flesh” on the day of
Pentecost? Did the emperor of
“It
is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall ALL be
taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father,
comes to Me.” (John 6:45).
At
the same time that He was teaching that some men do not come to Him because
they are not drawn by the Father, He turned to speak of those who do come and
He said that they are ALL taught of God.
This promise of a universal blessing goes all the way back to Abraham.
...and in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed (Genesis 12:3b).
Will
all the families of the earth become blessed in Abraham? Yes, in a sense, we can say that they
will. There will be a
new heavens and a new earth and all who are a part of that new heaven
and new earth will be blessed in Abraham.
UNIVERSAL
ASPECTS OF THE ATONEMENT
We
must never think of the atoning work of Christ upon the cross as being
insufficient to save all men. Augustine
proposed the formula: “Sufficient for all, efficient for the elect.” While illustrations can break down, the
following might be helpful. Let us
suppose that I have a million dollar line of credit and I go to an automobile
dealership to purchase a car. I pick one
out that costs $20,000. My line of credit has been sufficient for a
much greater amount, but it was only efficient for the cost of the car. In the same way, the death of Christ was efficient
to bring about the salvation of God’s chosen people—to God’s redeemed who have
been purchased from their sins.
Dr.
James Oliver Buswell gives us several points that
help us understand this tension between the universal and particular aspects of
the atonement.
1. It is sufficient for all.
Christ would not have had to speak another three hours
and forty five minutes on the cross to atone for the rest of the sins of the
human race. His death was both
qualitatively and quantitatively sufficient for anyone who believes.
I have occasionally been asked how the death of a
single individual could possibly atone for the sins of so many. The answer, I believe, is found in the nature
of the Atoner. He is the eternal Son of
God. Only such an infinite Being could
bring forth such a sufficient atonement.
2. It is applicable to all.
There is nothing in the events of the death of Christ
that intrinsically limit its application to all men. What is limited is
the application of the atonement and its effectiveness of drawing some to
repentance.
3. It is offered to all.
The offer of salvation is made to all men. Indeed, God commands all men everywhere to
repent (Acts 17:30). The Bible closes
with this invitation to all men: And
the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say,
"Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes
take the water of life without cost. (Revelation 22:17).
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