“For God so
loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
It is one of the
most famous and most beloved verses in the entire Bible. It is the message of
the entire Bible summarized into just one verse, John 3:16. Christians almost
universally accept the following about this amazing verse: “For God, the
greatest source; so loved, the greatest heart; the world, the greatest extent;
that He gave, the greatest sacrifice; His only begotten Son, the greatest gift;
that whoever, the greatest invitation; believes in Him, the greatest terms;
should not perish, the greatest deliverance; but, the greatest difference; have
everlasting life, the greatest promise.” However, it might surprise you to know
that this is one of the most controversial verses in the Bible!
There are at
least six controversial elements in this beloved verse. First,
who does “world” refer to: all people or
only a portion? Second, who are the “Whosoever”: just the people whom
God has chosen or does this offer apply to anyone who would freely choose to
believe? Third, does God love people differently? Or put another way,
does God love some people more than others? Fourth, what does the word
“Believe” mean in this verse? Fifth, what does it mean to perish? And sixth,
what does Scripture mean when it says that Jesus is God’s one and only Son?
At least half of
the controversial elements in this verse relate to the theological debate
between Calvinism and Arminianism. As we saw a few months ago, “Calvinism and
Arminianism are two systems of theology that attempt to explain the
relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the matter
of salvation. Both systems can be summarized with five points” known as TULIP (for
an overview of this topic please
see http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2018/05/theology-201-3-pick-brighter-tulip-part.html).
This month we
will examine the third point: Limited Atonement (Calvinism) vs. Limitless
Opportunity (Arminianism). Really, at the heart of this debated point
is simply this: Did Jesus die for the entire world, meaning all the people who
have ever and will ever live (Arminianism)? Or did He die only for the
elect—those whom He chose to be saved (Calvinism)? When worded as such, the
majority of people would agree with the Arminian view, as do I, and we at
Eugene Christian Church. And I will go into length as to why we do with
supporting passages. However, at the same time, we need to seek to understand
things from the Calvinists’ perspective.
Several Scripture
passages speak of the fact that Christ died specifically for His people (John
6:37-39; 10:11, 15; 17:9, 20; Acts 20:28; Rom. 5:8-10; 8:32-34; Eph. 5:25).
Even still, there are tons of passages that speak of Jesus dying for the sins
of every person, including non-believers (John 1:29; 3:16; 4:42; 10:9; 12:32;
17:12; Rom. 5:8; 14:15; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15, 19; 1 Tim. 2:4, 6; 4:10;
Heb. 2:9; 10:29; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:14). Let’s consider 1 John 2:2 for
example. Jesus “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours
but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Jack Cottrell
said, “Now, a large part of the world’s population are good, decent, kind,
well-meaning, obedient human beings. You can probably name a few that you know!
And we can see why Jesus would want to save them, by turning God’s wrath away
from them by taking it on Himself. But John says – ‘the WHOLE WORLD!’ Jesus
gave Himself as a propitiation (an atoning sacrifice to pay for the sins of
others) the meanest, vilest persons you know! He died for every criminal in
every prison in the world; He took on Himself the punishment due to the sins of
Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, Jack the Ripper, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-Un, Sadam
Hussein, Joseph Stalin, & Osama bin Laden to name a few.
The Apostle Paul
puts it like this: “Christ died for the ungodly! For one will hardly die
for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man, someone would dare even
to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8 NASB). And as 1 John 2:2 says, ‘for
the sins of the whole world’” (available
fromhttp://jackcottrell.com/uncategorized/five-communion-meditations-on-1-john-21-2-number-four-christ-the-propitiation-for-the-world/).
Calvinists take
these passages to mean that Jesus paid for the sins of sinners in general
without implying that every single individual in the world will be saved
(Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 597). However, Hebrews 2:9 states that
Jesus “tasted death for everyone.” This speaks of the individuality of Jesus'
death.
At this point,
Calvinists raise another objection. “If Jesus paid for the sins of the entire
world, then what sins are non-believers going to be suffering eternally from?”
(Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 597) While yes, it is true that Jesus
did pay the penalty for the sins of even those who will end up in hell, every
person must still respond to the atonement that Jesus provided. Thus, the
atonement is not limited by God's intentions, but by man's response to it.
Therefore, the God of the Bible offers limitless opportunities for people to
receive Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, yet unfortunately only a few respond to it.
Now, on a different
note, if one was to offer someone something they did not have, it would make
them dishonest. Yet that is exactly the path that limited atonement actually
takes. Most assuredly, this does not mean that the Calvinists believe that God
is being dishonest, yet that is the natural implication of offering something
that one does not have to offer.
Therefore, the
only way that Calvinism and limited atonement can survive is by eisegesis; that
is by adding to, or changing God’s Word. For example, to them, all doesn’t mean
all, whosever doesn’t mean whosever, etc. So a good question for Calvinists is
how can you even preach the Gospel to someone, telling them that Jesus died for
their sins, but you don’t know if they are the elect? In other words, you are not
sure if Christ died for them. In that you would have to lie to them. Thus,
Calvinism is really more of a philosophy of man, rather than Biblical doctrine.
Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow
and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic
principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
On the other
hand, the Bible clearly teaches limitless opportunities to receive God’s mercy,
forgiveness, and amazing grace. Alger Fitch rightly said, “In all covenants of
God or man there are three entities: parties, terms, and promises. The New
Covenant’s promises of forgiveness, justification, cleansing, pardon, etc., are
God’s gracious offerings to those parties who will receive them. The
opportunity is to be given to all—check the great commission—“all the
world...all creation” (Mark 16:15). God loves all (John 3:16) and desires all
to be saved (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4). Jesus paid the price for all (1 Tim.
2:6; 1 John 2:2). All that is lacking is for each human party to sign in and
become a recipient of God’s grace.
To the most
remote corner of earth, over full extension of time, unto the chief of sinners
among men, the invitation is heralded, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and
whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life (Rev. 22:17).
Abundant mercy (1 Peter 1:3), abundant grace (Rom. 5:20), abundant life (John
10:10), and abundant peace (Ps. 72:7) await those who will receive Jesus as
Lord and Savior. Abundant joy (Phil. 1:26), abundant strength (Eph. 3:20), and
abundant pleasure (Ps. 36:8) are just inside the open door of Christ’s
kingdom….As to the atonement, our opportunity to be reconciled to God through
Christ is not limited but limitless” (Pick the Brighter Tulip, pgs. 46,
48).
In all of this, I
cannot help but remember the old hymn, Are You Washed in the Blood?.
“Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?...Are you fully trusting in
His grace this hour? Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?...Do you rest
each moment in the Crucified?...When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be
white?... Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright…? Lay aside the
garments that are stained with sin…There’s a fountain flowing for the soul
unclean, Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!”
God’s amazing
love has provide the limitless opportunities of this life to receive what Jesus
did for you some 2,000 years ago on a hill called Calvary. So are you washed in
the blood of the Lamb?
In His service,
Matt
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