Limited Atonement or Particular Redemption

The doctrine of limited atonement (or better, “particular redemption”) comes in two parts. Number one: Jesus actually redeems His elect. This means that the atoning work of Christ was actually, rather than potentially, done on the cross. A good way to think about it is to reflect on the title of a book by Dr. John Murray, Christ’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied. The substitutionary work was accomplished in Christ’s death. And Christ’s work is later applied to every one of the elect.

The second part is this: Jesus only redeems His elect. That, of course, is the whole thought behind the word “elect.” Christ’s death was not intended to potentially save everyone, but to definitely save a certain group. God’s intention was and is to save His elect. When Christ was sent, He came knowing that price He was to pay was for those people, and only those people. Arminians believe that salvation is possible for everyone but guaranteed for no one. They leave open the chance that no one will be saved. Loaraine Boettner put it this way, for the Calvinist “the atonement is like a narrow bridge that goes all the way across the stream; for the Arminian it is like a great wide bridge that goes only half-way across.”

All right, I will now try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions from a collection of completely made-up people. Being the mind behind both the questions and the answers, I will try not to throw myself too many softballs. Just try to use your imagination, OK.

Phil: How do you explain passages like 1 John 2:2 where it says that Jesus Christ “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” If it says “world” doesn’t it mean world?

Well Phil, the first thing you have to understand is that the Bible limits the scope of the words like “all” and “world” on a regular basis. Take 1 Timothy 6:10, “the love of money is the root of all evil.” Obviously this can’t mean exactly what it says. As Tom Wells teaches in A Price for a People, Adam and Eve’s first sin couldn’t have been a result of money loving. There wasn’t even anything they could buy. Everything was theirs except that one tree. We see that “all” is limited to “all kinds.” Or look at John 6:33, “for the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Again, if you take “world” at face value, you have to say that all men are saved. But the Bible clearly teaches that some go to hell. In the same way, considering the overwhelming amount of passages saying that Christ died for a particular group, we have to limit the meaning of “world” in verses like 1 John 2:2 and John 3:16. I think the authors do this to emphasize that gentiles as well as Jews will be saved—all kinds of people.

Darla: OK, but can’t Christ have died for everybody by just, like, giving them an opportunity to accept Him. So, like, Christ died for everybody but not everybody will be saved because they won’t all, like, accept Him?

Thanks for the question Darla. First, God would be exacting punishment for sins twice. If Christ paid the price for the sins of all men, God would be unfair in sending anyone to hell, because their sins would already be remitted (forgiven). God would have to save everyone, if Christ died for everyone. Second, the very word “substitution” demands that Christ work was actual rather than potential. You cannot potentially substitute for some one else. Christ did something!

Darla: Then can’t God just make some people accept Him?

Now you’re back to God limiting the atonement to a certain group of people. Which, I may say, is exactly where I want you.

Todd: Then how do we evangelize?

That’s a great question, and a very reasonable one. Let me start by saying how we don’t evangelize. One of the most common wrong ways is to tell people that God loves them. But if you think about it, we have no right to tell any sinner that God loves them. If they are not one of His elect, it would be more truthful to say that God is angry with them. Now on to correct evangelism. I think the best place to find examples is the book of Acts. What we find there is that the apostles spent most of the time talking about Christ’s resurrection and power. They were stressing the authority of Christ and exposing the sinfulness against him. Really, the gospel is the same as always. Not, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for you life.” But, “Christ died, was resurrected, and, from the right hand of the throne of God demands your allegiance. Therefore, repent and believe.”

Now, I realize that there are a lot more questions about, and arguments against this doctrine. But, I just don’t have time look at them here.

Unconditional Election

Before the creation of the world God elected or selected a group of people to accept His offer of salvation. This, after all, has been His plan for all eternity, to save some out of fallen humanity, and give those He had saved to the Son as a bride, thereby glorifying Himself in the best possible way.

“And we know that for those that love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)

“. . . even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will . . .” (Ephesians 1:4)

In order to understand unconditional election it is imperative that you realize this simple fact: God has no obligation to save sinners.  As fallen creatures, all men have sinned against a holy God by not giving Him the glory that He rightly deserves. They have cut themselves off by turning their backs on Him and trying to create another Him out of something artificial, like making cheerios out of Styrofoam. And left to themselves, depraved men will always make cheerios out of Styrofoam. God is perfectly just and right to punish each one as they deserve.

If you’re a Calvinist and you’ve ever discussed this issue with someone who doesn’t hold to your viewpoint, you know that the first thing they say is, “God is love. So He can’t purposefully send people to hell.” Well, that God is love is undeniably true. But, that God is other things, like righteous, just, and wrathful, is also true. If God cannot punish sinners, how do you explain all the punishment in the Bible? I mean, just try reading Amos. You see if God is not righteous, then God is not God. Also, God showing His wrath as well as His mercy glorifies Himself more than only showing his mercy.

“What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.” (Romans 9:22-24)    

The second thought that an Arminian usual has is this: “maybe God elects based of a foreknowledge of how people will respond to the gospel.” I say that if you believe in foreknowledge you have to believe in predestination as well, because they are, in a sense, the same thing. For example, God knew that you were going to read the word BLOGSPOT at the exact moment that you just did, and there is no possible way that you could not have read that word. Likewise, if God knew that a person would reject salvation, there is no possible way he could accept it. Besides, it seems absurd to say that God would ordain something that would happen whether He ordained it or not.

Total Depravity or Total Inability

Mankind inherited from Adam a totally depraved nature. Total depravity does not mean that everyone is as completely evil in their actions as they possibly could be. It means that every facet of their nature (thoughts, will, body, etc.) is corrupt.

As a result of this innate corruption all men are born spiritual dead. They are utterly unable to save themselves from eternal damnation, or even to accept the salvation God offers. This is what is meant by “total inability”. As the saying goes “dead men don’t rise” (at least, not by themselves).

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5)

“And you, who were dead in you trespasses and the uncircumcision of you flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” (Colossians 2:13)

Everything that an unregenerate person does is evil—and nothing but, all the time (Genesis 6:5; 8:21; Ephesians 2:1-2, etc.). Paul says that they are “slaves to sin”, and Genesis is very clear on this point:

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

Even the seemingly virtuous acts are evil, because they come from an intention that is far from virtuous. Nobody jumps into the river to save a drowning child without expecting to climb up the opposite bank amid thunderous applause.

Men not only cannot do anything about their spiritual condition, they don’t want to (1 Corinthians 1:21, 2:14; John 3:19, etc.). God is not turning away sinners, heartbroken because their plea for mercy has been rejected. They don’t want mercy. “Who is God to tell us that we need salvation? Are we helpless kittens caught on a roof that God should offer to rescue us?” (Emphatically, yes, and a whole lot more.)

The only way anyone was ever saved or ever will be saved is because God has first regenerated them (or made them alive). Only when the Holy Spirit breathes life into a person, do they have the ability or the desire to take up their cross and follow Him. But, when God does regenerate a person, you couldn’t keep him away from Christ with the Berlin wall.

Because Jesus commands everyone everywhere to repent and believe, many people find it hard to except this doctrine. It is hard to believe that God would command something He alone can give. So, they propose that men are just sick and not dead. They paint a picture of God tossing a rope to drowning men who, if they would only reach out grab it, would be saved. Rather, I propose this (and I think God does too): God is throwing a rope to drowned men who, if and only if God makes them alive, will reach out, grab it, and be saved.