John 10:11-29 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
In defending the Reformed doctrine of Limited Atonement, or Particular Redemption we shall often venture into other theological issues. This is normal, and to be expected. If Scripture is a unified whole, as all Christians profess, then we should not be surprised to see an interconnectedness among its teachings.
We often compartmentalize our thinking in ways that are not warranted Scripturally. For instance, to say that Jesus is your Savior implies that you needed saving. To say that you needed saving implies that you were in some sort of danger, etc. To say you believe the Bible is the Word of God, implies that you believe that God has spoken authoritatively. It also implies that you reject other "revelations" which claim to be from God as well.
Logical implications are not always the ruling factors in our thinking, however. So many people who honestly believe that Christ atoned for their sin have never seen the unbreakable connection between this fact and the irrevocable nature of election. Thus, as I said, in treating Limited Atonement we will occasionally treat other related matters as well.
1. Could God have saved everyone without exception had He wanted to?
2. Does the death of Christ actually save anyone? Or does it merely make salvation possible?
3. If Jesus' death was for ALL men without exception, and God is trying to save all men, why aren't ALL men saved? Can we therefore say that God has failed?
How does Scripture answer these questions? Sadly, it is often simply assumed that much of Christian doctrine is simply speculation on the part of theologians and pastors. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That is not to say, of course, that some theologians and pastors aren't guilty of speculation. But it is important to realize that Scripture has much to say about a lot of subjects we simply take for granted as untouched or untreated.
1. Could God have saved everyone without exception had He wanted to?
Let me hasten to note that I am note asking just yet about the extent of the atonement. What we are driving at is this: Some men have already perished, and many more will still yet undoubtedly perish. If God wanted to, could He have saved these people? What immediately surfaces when we ponder this question is that God has to have some design or plan regarding all men, including those who, in fact, actually perish eternally. If He could not have done anything about the fact that they will perish, then His sovereignty is limited. Some Arminians are comfortable with that idea, though Scripture clearly abominates such a notion. The popular Arminian assertion that God has willingly limited His sovereignty or power so that men can exercise their free will is NOWHERE found in Scripture. In fact, many Scriptures blast that idea right out of the water.
Here are a few:
Exodus 15:18 The LORD will reign forever and ever.
Joshua 11:20 For it was the LORD's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
1 Samuel 3:25b But they would not listen to the voice of their father for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.
Psalm 115:3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he wills.
Isaiah 40:13-15 Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
Isaiah 46:9b-10 For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times thing not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.
Daniel 4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done."
Romans 9:18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
As I said, that was a small sampling of the Biblical evidence. Any student of Scripture knows that that list could easily be expanded tenfold.
2. Does the death of Christ actually save anyone? Or does it merely make salvation possible?
Ever since the days of the arch-heretic Arminius himself, his followers have been quite comfortable in affirming that Christ's death did nothing else than make salvation a possibility. Arminius and his original cohorts made no bones about asserting that Christ's death did not actually save anyone. Yet we, again, find Scripture stating the diametrical opposite:
Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
Romans 5:9-10 Since, therefore, we have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life
Romans 8:24a For in this hope we were saved.
2 Timothy 1:9 Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave un Christ before the ages began.
Titus 3:5 He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
3. If Jesus' death was for ALL men without exception, and God is trying to save all men, why aren't ALL men saved? Can we therefore say that God has failed?
How does it not impugn God's honor to say that He can't accomplish that which He wants to accomplish? Why is this not considered open, bold-faced blasphemy? Arminians make such a big hoopla over man's supposed free will, but have you ever noticed that in the system of these champions of free-will, it is God who has no free-will? I doubt if I am alone in that observation. Scripture repeatedly insists on God's sovereignty and power over men's wills. Here are a few passages:
Joshua 11:20 For it was the LORD's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
1 Samuel 3:25b But they would not listen to the voice of their father for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.
Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he wills.
The implication, of course of Proverbs 21:1 is that if God can move the king's will at his own discretion, how much more the ordinary folk like you and me? A king is the most powerful human we can imagine, and yet God claims to be able to turn the king's will any way He wishes. If the king's will presents no challenge to God's power, how much less does yours or mine?
Moreover, what happens to saved sinners once they get to heaven? Will they still be able to sin? Arminians will, of course, say, "No." But think about this. Given the length of eternity, a lapse into sin would be almost inevitable if there were no safeguards on our created natures to preclude such an occurrence. All professing Christians, Arminians included, affirm that in Glory God will so renovate our natures so as to make sin impossible. I don't know about you, but I can't wait! But wait a second: If God can so exercise His power over our wills to renovate them in Glory, a point which even Arminians concede, where do they get off denying that God can control human wills now? You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either God can or He cannot control human wills.
Now, looking back at our original three questions, we can see that the Scripture tells us that: (a) Some men have and will still yet perish. (b) Christ's death actually secures the salvation of those who are saved. (c) Since God controls men's wills and some men willfully die in their sins, then God has limited the efficacy, indeed the intent, of the atonement to the Elect, whom He has chosen to save out of the mass of fallen humanity.
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