The Doctrine of Definite Atonement: (Part 1)

The Bible teaches that Jesus died in the place of His people in order to obtain their salvation.  Jesus (whose name means, 'God saves') came to earth in order to endure the penalty and guilt of men's sins.  His cross-work provides a way for those chosen by the Father to be saved from sin and its effects.

Some Initial Thoughts:

Jesus Himself appears to have limited the application of His saving cross-work, doesn't He?

Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Definitions:

The word "atone" means:   to wash away; to cover

We use the word "atonement" to summarize the Bible's teaching on what the death of Jesus accomplished.

New Testament Words That Describe Aspects of the Atonement:

"sacrifice"           - to make an offering for sin in order to erase our guilt 

·       Hebrews 9:11-14  "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God."

"purchase"           - buying us to bring us to God and out of the clutches of Satan

·       1 Corinthians 6:19b-20 "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

·       Revelation 5:9-10  "And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."

"redeem"              - set free from our bondage to sin by the paying of a price

·       Titus 2:13-14  ".waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

·       1 Peter 1:17-19 "And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."               

·       Ephesians 1:7 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace."

"propitiation"      - removing God's rightful and just wrath toward us

·       Hebrews 2:17  "Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."

·       1 John 4:10  "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."               

·       Romans 3:23-25a  "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."

"reconcile"          - removing our alienation from God and replacing it with love

·       Romans 5:10,11  "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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."                  

·       2 Corinthians 5:18 "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation"

Some Important Little Words:

"in exchange for" (the Greek preposition anti)             

·       Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

"on behalf of"       (the Greek preposition hyper)

·       John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

·       Ephesians 5:1, 2, 25 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."  "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

Christ's Atonement is a Work of Substitution:

·       Isaiah 53:11 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

·       1 Peter 2:24 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

·       2 Corinthians 5:21 "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Summary of Part One

·       Jesus atonement fully satisfied God's JUSTICE

·       Jesus atonement fully PAID the debt of sin

·       Jesus' atonement fully SAVED those He died for

Hebrews 9:22 ".without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."

The Doctrine of Definite Atonement: (Part 2)

The Bible teaches that Jesus died in the place of His people in order to secure their salvation.  Jesus (whose name means, 'God saves') came to earth in order to provide a way for those chosen by the Father to be saved from sin and its effects.

The Question:

When Jesus died on the cross, did He pay for the sins of the entire human race or only for the sins of those whom He knew would ultimately be saved?  Here are the four options.

1.        He died for all the sins of all people.

2.        He died for all the sins of some people.

3.        He died for some of the sins of all people.

4.        He died for some of the sins of some people.

The Non-Reformed or Arminian View:

·       since the gospel is offered to all people, and this offer is genuine, therefore Jesus must have paid the penalty for sins for all people

·       if Jesus did not die in the place of all men, the gospel cannot be freely and in good conscience offered to all people

The Reformed or Calvinistic View:

·       if Jesus died for all people, then all people will be saved without exception since in His substitutionary death Jesus accomplished salvation (see last week's notes: purchased, redeemed, ransomed, propitiated the Father, reconciled to the Father)

·       if God condemned to eternal judgment those whose sins were paid for that would demand double payment and make God unjust

·       as for our freedom to offer the gospel (to offer Jesus) to all men:

"The fact that God foreknew who would be saved and that he accepted Christ's death as payment for their sins only, does not inhibit the free offer of the gospel for who will respond to it is hidden in the secret counsels of God.  That we do not know who will respond no more constitutes a reason for not offering the gospel to all than not knowing the extent of the harvest prevents the farmer from sowing seed in his fields."  - Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 595.

Why a Limited Atonement?

·       some limit the effectiveness of the atonement (not everyone goes to heaven, therefore Jesus atonement must not have been strong or good enough - He needs us to add to it)

·       some limit the application of the atonement (those to whom are applied the benefits of His cross-work are fully saved)

·       nobody is limiting the value of the atonement. by virtue of who Jesus is, the atonement is of infinite value!

To the Word:  For Whom Does the Bible Teach Christ Died?

·       John 10:11-15 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep."

·       Acts 20: 28 "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood."

·       Ephesians 5: 2, 25 "And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."  "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

·       Romans 5:6-11 "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God."  Note the context here:  this verse is addressed to Christians alone!

·       2 Corinthians 5:21 "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

·       Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

·       Mark 14: 24-25 "And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

·       Isaiah 53:12 "Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."  (plus the whole context of Isaiah 53 where Isaiah speaks on behalf of God's redeemed people - not on behalf of all humanity)

What About "Whosoever Will?"

Some of the confusion comes from passages that use words like "all" or "world" as they describe the atonement of Jesus.  There are many excellent books and articles that deal with these verses.  Most of the time, a careful look at the context will make it clear that the "all" is being limited to a certain group - not every single human.  But let's try to tackle the most difficult verse to the Calvinistic view of the atonement!

·       1 John 2:1, 2 "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."

If this was the only verse in the Bible that described the atonement we would have to conclude that Jesus died for all men indiscriminately.  Since this is not the only verse in the Bible that speaks about the atonement, we either have to re-interpret all the other verses that limit the application of the atonement (see above for a small sampling) or else see if there is any legitimate way to think that John was thinking "limited atonement" when he penned these words.  Three possible solutions have been proposed and they are summarized here:

·       These words might be emphasizing the ethnic universalism of Jesus' atonement - in other words, His cross-work was not limited to those Jews who had "heard, seen and touched" Him (note the context of 1:1-4), but extends to all the nations of the world.

·       It could be that John used these words to teach the exclusive sacrifice of Jesus - He is the only one in the whole creation that can make atonement between men and God. no one else in the world atones.

·       Another solution is to understand John as emphasizing the on-going effectiveness of Jesus' propitiation - He appeased the rightful wrath of God for the first disciples and He will do the same for all who ever come to Him out of the whole world.

Conclusion:  It is easy to see that there are many options. perhaps a combination of the three is best.  But we are not bound to conclude that John was teaching a general redemption - in fact, careful use of the rest of our Bible shows us exactly what John was not intending in these words.  After all, if Jesus propitiated the wrath of God toward the sins of every human in the world, then every human in the world is going to heaven!  Experience and the rest of the Bible tell us this is just not so.