One of the greatest questions in theology is "Who did Jesus die for?" Many evangelicals like to claim that Christ in fact died for everyone. They misquote John 3:16 and a few other scriptures to support this weak position. There are two main areas of concern with regards to this Arminian position: 1)If Christ died for everyone, then everyone will be saved, even those that do not believe in Jesus. This is called universalism, which believes in the universal sacrifice of Christ on the cross and that His atonement was indeed for all people for all time...even for the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and all the other people that were monsters, even by our own sinful and earthly standards. Scripture is crystal clear that this is not the case, and to be fair, Arminians don't believe in universalism. So what do they believe?
Jesus died for all of humanity potentially, and for none in actuality. Salvation depends upon the response of each individual to the gospel message. If you respond positively, you will be saved. If you do not, you will not be saved. Therefore, while Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the entire world, there was the potential that His sacrifice would save none. How is this different from reformed theology?
Jesus died for His church. John 10:11 says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep." Jesus did not come to earth with the potential to save all, He came to save His sheep. He knows who belong to Him, and His sheep hear Him (John 10:27).
2)God is unjust if Christ died for all yet universalism is wrong. If Christ died for the forgiveness of the world's sins, yet those that don't believe in Christ by the time they die are cast into hell, then they have been punished unjustly, for their sins (including the sin of unbelief) have been paid for by the death of Jesus on the cross. If the fine has been paid in full, how can God exact more justice? He cannot, yet maintain His justness.
Regardless of how you believe one comes to faith, if you stand with orthodox Christians, you MUST believe in particular atonement, otherwise you must believe in either universalism, or you believe our God is unjust, as he punished his Son for the sins of the world, AND he will punish those again that do not believe in Christ. Our God is good, our God is just. He sent His Son to die on a cross for the forgiveness of sins, more particularly, the sins of His church.
Jesus Died . . .
ReplyDelete1. For all (1 Tim. 2:6; Isa. 53:6).
2. For every man (Heb. 2:9).
3. For the world (John 3:16).
4. For the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).
5. For the ungodly (Rom. 5:6).
6. For false teachers (2 Peter 2:1).
7. For many (Matt. 20:28).
8. For Israel (John 11:50–51).
9. For the Church (Eph. 5:25).
10. For "me" (Gal. 2:20).
This isn't universalism as some may think. This simply teaches us that Jesus has made salvation available to all people, not that all will be saved.
In the end, we have to ask "Is everyone saved?" The answer is clear: NO! So if not all are saved, then Christ did not die for all, He died for His church. In those references mentioned above, they can (and should) be referenced as all KINDS of people (not just Israelites, but Gentiles as well). Otherwise we have a clear contradiction between those scriptures above and those that clearly teach otherwise (John 6:37-40, 10:27-29, 11:51-52, Romans 8:28-39, Eph. 1:3-14, 1 Pet. 1:20). God does not speak out both sides of His mouth. The translation for "all" can and should be translated "all kinds". With such a translation there is no contradiction and all is well with scripture. Your interpretation makes God look...insane, or bi-polar.
ReplyDeleteNo, that's simply what scripture says. There's no hidden, or deeper meaning in those verses. They mean what they say. Those verses don't in any way say that they will be saved, they simply mean that God offers salvation to all.
ReplyDeleteI see no contradiction in your scripture references and the ones that I noted.
"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). To me this verse is pretty clear. The term "whole world" means exactly that. Again, let me be clear that I don't believe in universalism, that would be heresy, but I do hold to a universal gospel, that is the gospel is for all people, and if the gospel is for all people then Christ must have died for all people. If Christ didn't die for all, can you be sure that he died for you?
His value on the cross is sufficient for all. But He died only for those that come to Him. Does it not make sense that for those that do not come to Him, they are still 'in their sins' and will not be saved? If they are not saved, then Christ ultimately did not die for them, otherwise they would be saved. God calls all to repent and believe, but only few come to his Son. Christ died for His sheep, and in His prayer (John 17) Jesus says explicitly that He is praying for those that are His, and NOT for the world, and that He was going to save those that the Father had given Him. In the post I said we had two choices, either universalism is correct (which we both agree it is not), or Christ's sacrifice on the cross is only payment for His sheep, for it to be otherwise would be injustice as those that do not come to Him are being punished for their sins which Christ had already died for. Does this not make sense?
ReplyDeleteThis is what I'm trying to say: because of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection he has provided an opportunity for all to come to him. This doesn't mean that all will, but all have that access. Here's another way to say it: Christ’s death was SUFFICIENT FOR ALL but EFFICIENT only for those who believe.
ReplyDeleteSee, I knew we'd agree in the end! Love the dialogue Benji, keep it up!
ReplyDelete