Definite Atonement (part 2) - [John 1:29-34,36]

Particular Redemption and the Unity of the Godhead

Well, what I want to do in this session is I want to complete what we began in our last session on particular redemption or definite atonement. And I must tell you, for many years, I was a four-point Calvinist.

For many years, I held to the four doctrines of grace, but the atonement was a Mount Everest for me to climb. And I wrestled with this truth and wrestled with this. And when I taught John 17 many years ago, it became indisputable truth for me.

And yet, in some ways, I suppressed it and wanted to study yet further. And as I came back to teach John 17 and the 26 messages from John chapter 17, I was pinned to the wall. There was no other way for me to look at the cross and at the death of Christ other than it was an actual, definite, specific atonement for my sins.

If any of you are struggling with the extent of the atonement, I understand. I wrestled with this for many years myself, but now that I have made it, in essence, climbed to the top of the mountain, the view from there is extraordinary and I can never see the cross the same.

I can never come to the Lord's Supper the same. I can never sing the hymns the same. I can never read my Bible the same. God has done something very wonderful in my heart. It's almost like I've been saved all over again.

The second blessing is to realize there is no second blessing, but if there is one, it is to come to see these doctrines of grace all the more clearly. And so, if you were to ask me, you know, the most compelling reason why I believe in definite atonement, I would come back to what I mentioned last night, the unity of the Godhead, that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all act as one Savior.

And it is indisputable that the Father has chosen His elect before time and it is indisputable that the Holy Spirit is regenerating only those elect within time. And for Christ now, as He goes to the cross, I see the Father and I are one and the perfect unity and efficiency of the death of Christ at the cross.

And I hope that this session and the last session will be helpful for you and help you in bringing more sharply into focus your understanding of the death of Christ at the cross. So, I would like to pick up where I left off last time together and actually advance now to point number five.

And so, let's just keep the outline running. And I don't think that this session will take as long. Now, I always say that and it still does, but I really do mean that. I don't think this session will take quite as long.

The Unifying Death in John 11:49-52

But number five, I want you to come to John 11 and verse 49 to 52, a unifying death, a unifying death. In John chapter 11 and beginning in verse 49, I'm going to begin reading in verse 47, therefore, the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council and were saying, what are we doing?

For this man is performing many signs. I mean, there has been multiple attempts already to arrest and to apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ as these spiritual leaders of Israel are realizing that they are losing their grip on the people, they are losing their power because the teaching of Christ is so awakening and it is so full of life.

It is like the light shining in the darkness and the people are being drawn and he's performing signs that is authenticating that he is the Messiah, the one sent from God. In fact, when they have sent officials and soldiers to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ, as they have come to apprehend him, they have heard his sermons and they have been mesmerized by the teaching of the truth, how profound have been the words of Christ, almost hypnotic for them, and they have returned empty-handed back to the chief priests and the Pharisees and they have said, where is he?

And they said, never did a man speak like this. And so, there is an increasing escalating sense of panic within the spiritual leadership of Israel and so they must now intensify their conspiracy to apprehend and to put to death the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I might say, no preacher ever preaches so wonderfully as when there is a conspiracy for his arrest. And so, the chief priests, verse 47, and the Pharisees convened a council and were saying, what are we doing for this man is performing many signs.

If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. There was implemented the political strategy from Rome known as Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome.

When Rome would come and subdue a land, they were wise enough to let the people continue to carry out the tradition of their customs and that included religion. Rome would send in its troops and send in its soldiers and secure the region.

But so that life could go on without many uprisings, they would let the people continue to worship in the way that they have previously worshiped and maintained many of their customs. They would then appoint tax collectors who would then come and built the people of their money.

But the powers that be appointed by Rome could remain the powers that be as long as there remains peace and there remains unity and there remains tranquility in the land. And so, there is beginning now to be this uncomfortable feeling that if he continues to teach and the people continue to leave us and follow him, there are going to be rumblings in the land.

And there is going to be a revolution and Rome will catch word of this and Rome will rise up and they will send troops and they will come not to enforce Pax Romana, they will come to slay and to destroy.

So, what we must do is we must take care of him, Jesus the Nazareth. It's either him or us. It's either him or the entire nation. Either we put him to death or Rome will put all of us to death. We understand what's going on here, right?

So, verse 49 or verse 48, let me read it again. The Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation, meaning both our high place with which we have been entrusted and our nation. And if they take away the nation, they will do so to slaughter us.

Verse 49, but one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people and that the whole nation not perish.

Now, Caiaphas is speaking politically. Caiaphas is speaking with a limited perspective. What Caiaphas means by verse 50 is that Christ must die upon the cross so that by putting him to death, the entire nation will not perish under the dominion of the Roman Empire.

That is the meaning. So, in verse 51, the apostle John now gives this background commentary to the words of Christ and what an unusual passage this is. So, in verse 51, John gives this footnote. Now, he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation.

In other words, God can speak even through unconverted men. You read the book of Isaiah. You read the place of Cyrus, who was the king of the Persians. He was so used by God as an unregenerate man that God speaks of Cyrus through the prophet Isaiah as my anointed one and my shepherd.

Although he is not even converted, God says, he is my anointed one and he is my shepherd because God's hand will be upon the unconverted king and will so work through him that it will be as if the unconverted king is a converted man.

We know in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 27 verse 1, or 21 verse 1, the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. As rivers of water, he channels it whichever way he will. That is raw, sheer sovereignty.

The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. As rivers of water, he channels it whichever way he will. Can you picture... I can tell this message is going to go the full hour, but can you picture there in the Middle East, a dry and arid land, there is the flowing of a river and on both sides is parched, dry, dusty land that is incapable of growing crops.

But the farmer has come and has cut channels that feed off of this flowing river whereby water can be re-diverted to his field. And the farmer has set up a complicated network or maze of channels to take water to his field and he has set up wooden dams that he can lift the board and the water will flow, he can close the board and the water will stop.

And by this, he can sit and see the entirety of his field and if he needs water over here, he can lift certain boards and put down other boards and intentionally and purposely direct the flow of the water so it will go exactly to this place right over here.

The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. As rivers of water, he channels it whichever way he wills. The sovereign providential oversight of God over all of the affairs of men such that even unsaved kings become mouthpieces for God.

When God desires to channel their words and their hearts in specific instances in history that his eternal purposes would march forward as he has foreordained. Listen, God never has to have circumstances just right in order for him to work.

God is the God who intervenes into human circumstances so that his will will come to pass. In this case, with Caiaphas, as Caiaphas opens his mouth and says, one man will die for the nation, Caiaphas now speaks with the clarity of John Calvin.

He now speaks as a reformed theologian, having no idea what he just said. Caiaphas spoke on simply a political level, but God had opened his mouth and channeled his heart so that he would give crystal clear teaching on the intent and the extent of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How strange this is that out of the mouth of babes, out of the mouth of this king would come a clear statement of definite atonement. So, lest any of us miss what was just said, John the apostle writes in verse 51, now he, Caiaphas, did not say this, that one man would die for the nation on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and right he did.

It was a substitutionary death. It was a death on behalf of the people of God. Now, in verse 52, he gives some theological clarification of the extent of this death, and he says, and not for the nation only, but in order that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

Now, what this is saying by John's explanation is that there are the children of God. The children of God are the elect of God. The children of God are the sheep of God. The children of God are the bride of Christ.

The children of God are those who either have been, are being, or will be born again into the family of God. They are those who by the new birth will enter into the kingdom of God and into the family of God, will be sired by the Holy Spirit, and will be regenerated, and will become children of God.

Now, there are two groups of the children of God who are being made together into one group. Group number one is the children of God of the nation. Group number two is the children of God who are scattered abroad.

Group number one is the children of God within the nation for whom Christ has died. These are elect Jews, and elect Jews only, not non-elect Jews, but Jews within the nation who have been, are being, becoming, or will become children of God.

Then he says in verse 52, also the children of God who are scattered abroad. This is a reference to Gentiles who are out among the nations, who were scattered abroad beginning at Babylon. And the various nations being scattered in Acts 14, 17, God has determined their times and their boundaries.

And there are children of God within the non-Jews, children of God among the Gentiles for whom Christ died. This is a remarkable statement to come out of Caiaphas' mouth. One man will die for the nation, and John now seizes on this, incorporates this into his gospel to affirm what he has been teaching all along, that the Lamb of God will take away the sin of the world, both Jews and Gentiles, both elect Jews and elect Gentiles.

This is further amplification of Christ will die for the sheep, not only from this fold, but from the other fold of the Gentiles. There is a fold of elect Jews, and there is another fold, John 10, 16, of elect non-Jews or elect Gentiles.

So, he has these two groups in mind as he's thinking of the atonement, and it is the elect within these two groups. And this is what now he brings further clarification to what he has already introduced in his gospel when he says that one man will die for the nation.

And John says, amen, that is so. And it is not only for the elect, the children of God within the nation, but it is also for the children of God who are scattered abroad, wherever they are around the world, whether in the past, in the present, or in the future, this atonement will be a unifying atonement, and Jew and Gentile, children of God, children of God, elect Jew, elect Gentile, will be brought together to form the one body of the people of God.

We are one in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has removed the barrier through his death between Jew and Gentile. We are now one people bought with one price, one atonement, as we come before the throne of God.

So, in John 11, 49 to 52, we see here a unifying, definite atonement for the children of God who are the elect of God, whether within the nation or scattered abroad. Number six, come to John 12, verse 32.

The Triumphant Atonement and the Meaning of “All” in John 12:32

John 12, verse 32. As the hour is approaching for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the focus is repeatedly being drawn to his impending death, the shadow of the cross is now being cast across his path as he is approaching Calvary in these last hours and last days, leading up to his death at the end of his week of triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

And so, in verse 27, to begin the context, now my soul has become troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose, I came to this hour. Jesus understands exactly who he is, why he is here, what he has come to do.

He has come as the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Messiah, to seek and to save that which is lost. And it will necessitate him going to the cross, and there the sins of the children of God, of the nation, and the children of God, of those scattered abroad, will be transferred by imputation to the Lord Jesus Christ as he is lifted up.

He knows the enormity of the price that he must pay in this death, and within his humanity, there is almost a shrinking back, and it will become intensified in the Garden of Gethsemane when he will say, let this cup pass from me, and he begins to sweat drops of blood, but not my will, but thy will be done.

And so, this is one of the first of those moments, Father, save me from this hour. No, but for this hour, no, but for this purpose, I came to this hour. And now, the purpose of that death, it is for the intrinsic glory of God to be put on display in his death, and there to be a scribe glory to be given to the Godhead.

Father, glorify thy name, referring to this hour of his death, and a voice came out of heaven. I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. So, the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered.

How masculine was the voice of God. How powerful was the voice of God. It was mistaken by those who were standing there that day as being the rumbling and the rolling of thunder as God spoke from heaven that which Christ clearly, audibly heard.

I have glorified it and will glorify it again. Others were saying an angel has spoken to him, meaning it was very audible. It was more than just thunder. It had the volume of thunder, but the specific language that they assumed was coming from an angel.

Verse 30, Jesus answered and said, This voice has not come for my sake, but for your sake, that they might know that the death of Christ would not be an accident. He would not die as a victim, but that he was the predetermined and foreknown son of God come to die.

He says in verse 31, in anticipation of this death that it is so imminent, now judgment is upon this world. Now, the ruler of this world will be cast out. And in the death of Christ, Jesus crushed the head of the serpent.

The serpent bruised him on the heel. Christ crushed him on the head. Genesis 3, 15, the Protoeoangelion, the first mention of the gospel in the Bible and Christ in his death, 1 John 3, I think it's verse 8, for the Son of Man has appeared for this purpose that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus has come literally to destroy the devil and the grip that he has on the elect of God. And Jesus has come that he would crush the devil, that he would let go of those held in his captive. And so, Christ in his death, it is a triumphant atonement.

And that is the heading for number 6 here, John 12, 32, a triumphant atonement. There is victory in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a militant victory in his atoning death for the elect of God at the cross.

And so, this leads now to verse 32. And I, I is emphatic, I and no one else, I all by myself, I and I alone. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, that refers to his atoning death on the cross. It's not a reference to his ascension, it is a reference to him being lifted up on the cross.

Crucifixion, when it was invented, it was thought that the man was a curse and he must be lifted up off the earth so that his crime will no longer curse the ground and no longer curse the nation that lives in the land.

He must be lifted up off the earth and Jesus would be lifted up and die suspended in mid air between heaven and earth and become a curse for us upon the cross. Galatians 3, 10 through 14. And so, he says, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.

Now, the word all is used in one of three ways and we need to understand this. If we are to be careful Bible students, we must give attention to linguistic nuances. The first use of the word all is all without exception.

It's how it's used in John 1 verse 3. John wrote that all things were made through him and without him, there was not anything that...there was not anything made that was made. There, the word all clearly comes to mean everything that there is.

So, it can mean all without exception. The word all is also used in John's gospel for all without distinction, meaning all classifications of people, all groups of people, all kinds of people, all classes of people, meaning both Jews and Gentiles, both male and female, both educated and uneducated.

And Jesus is the Savior, not only for Jews, but also for the Samaritans. He is the Savior of the world, meaning if anyone is to be saved in the world, there is only one Savior in the world. And he is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ, by his atoning death, will save those from among Gentiles, and those from among Jews, and those from among all different classifications of people.

There is a third use of the word world, and it is all the elect, all of one classification of people, not some out of every classification, that's all without distinction, but all within that one distinction, which would be all of the elect.

That is how the word all is used in John 6 .37. All that the Father gives me shall come to me. That's all of the elect of God. John 6 .39, all that he has given me. It's also used in John 6, verse 45, and they will all be taught by God, referring to those who believe upon Christ.

Well, that cannot mean all unbelievers. That clearly means all within a classification of people. Now, in this particular instance, in verse 32, it obviously does not mean all without exception, meaning I will draw every single man who has ever lived to myself.

Again, that would mean that God would empty hell of all those in the Old Testament who have already died in unbelief. We certainly don't want to argue for that. And it would lead to universalism that all will be saved in the end because of the atoning death of Christ, all without exception.

It is either of the last two possibilities that the meaning is used here. It either means all without distinction, meaning not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles. And let me tell you why that is a possibility.

It's because of verse 20. This is at the first time that Greeks who are non-Jews, Greeks are now beginning to come and to seek Christ. And we read in verse 20, now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast.

Verse 21, these then came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and began to ask him saying, sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And then this leads into the whole thing.

In verse 23, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified in the discussion of the cross. But it is in this context that verse 32 is mentioned, the all can mean not only the classification of Jews, but He has also come to save Greeks as well.

Or the third possibility is all the elect, and that is the one I favor. That if I be lifted up upon the cross, I will draw all men among the elect to myself. And again, that is how the word all is used in John 6 .37, John 6 .39, John 6 .45.

James Boyce writes, as it stands in John's gospel, we might read this verse with the thought that the all in the quotation applies to all men, thereby thinking that somehow God illumines all, and men either must come to Christ or refuse to come to Christ on their own volition.

The full text, as Isaiah wrote it, shows that this is not the case. Actually, Isaiah wrote, and all your children will be taught by the Lord. Boyce writes, we see at once that the verse applies to God's children only, not to all men, and that it implies that one must first be a child of God through the new birth before one can really understand about Christ and come to know Him.

So, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. This does not say I might, maybe, possibly, potentially, hypothetically, if only they will believe, draw all men to myself. No, this says He actually draws all men to Himself.

So, there must be a modification of this word, all, that is consistent with its use throughout the gospel of John and as it is drawn from Isaiah, and that would be all of God's children, all of the elect.

I will draw all of them to myself. If one does not take this position, then you are left with being a universalist, that I will draw all people, literally, all without exception to myself, and we know that is not true.

Sometimes, people refer to definite atonement as limited atonement, meaning that the death of Christ was limited only to the elect. I never referred to it as limited atonement. And the reason is all Christians limit the atonement in one way or the other.

Even the Arminian limits the atonement. Think with me. The Calvinist believes in a limited extent of the death of Christ with an unlimited application of that death. The Arminian believes in an unlimited extent of the death of Christ with a limited application of that death.

I want to repeat that. I want to make sure you've got that. The Calvinist believes in a limited extent of the death of Christ with an unlimited application of that limited extent. The Arminian believes in an unlimited extent of the death of Christ with a limited application of an unlimited extent.

Both limit the atonement. One limits the extent of it, the other limits the application of it. I am persuaded from a study of Scripture that the Bible teaches the former, that Christ died with a specific design to save the elect of God, the children of God, all those who've been given to him by the Father.

Jesus died a death of limited extent, yet with an unlimited application of that limited extent, thus it is a particular definite atonement. Jesus died for all of his sheep. He died to save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1 verse 21 is what the very name Jesus means. For you shall call him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. I have two more passages and then we'll take a break. Number seven, come to John 15 verse 13.

John 15 verse 13, a loving atonement. In John chapter 15, Jesus is in the upper room. He has gathered his disciples together. Last words should be lasting words. He is giving to them his final instruction on this side of the cross.

Judas has already been dismissed. He is now with his people. He is now with those who are truly the elect of God. Judas the reprobate has left the room. Now is time for a conversation that is unhindered.

I know what it's like to be in a meeting and if someone's in that meeting, it curtails how freely I can speak because they will misunderstand. I don't have the total freedom of discussion that I need as long as this person is in the room.

But once this person leaves the room, it totally changes the chemistry of the room. It totally changes the level of communication. I can now be much more free to say exactly what's on my mind. I will not be misunderstood.

I can make the deposit that I need to make into those who are sitting across the table from me, so it is now in John 15 with our Lord. And in John 15, verse 13, Jesus has the cross specifically before him.

It is in his target. It is in his gaze. And with Judas now no longer in the room, he can make a statement like this, greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. Judas was not one of his friends.

Judas had made himself an enemy of the Lord. It is very clear who a friend of the Lord is by the next verse. For you are my friends, if... Here's the qualifier to be a friend of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, true, Jesus offered the morsel to Judas and showed him a friendly, general kind of mercy and compassion of hospitality, but to be a friend of Christ, to reciprocate, one must, as verse 14 says, you are my friends if you do what I command you.

This is exactly what 1 John 2 and verse 3 says that, by this we know that we've come to know him if we keep his commandments. And this is what Jesus was meaning in Matthew 7, verse 21. For many will say to me, Lord, Lord, or excuse me, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven.

Obedience from the heart is the mark of the elect of God. Submissive, compliant, wholehearted, love-motivated, obedience to the commandments of Christ and to the will of God is the mark of the elect.

Do we always do this? No. Do we want to do this? Yes. Do we feel convicted when we don't do this? Yes. Are we disciplined by the Lord if we don't do this, if prolonged? Yes. There is the desire in the heart of the elect of God, after they have been regenerated, to give obedience to the Lord and submission to his lordship.

And Jesus says here in verse 13, it is for these whom I have died for. Look at it again, verse 13. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life. Please note the object, the intent of his death for his friends.

It is also the extent of his death, which is for his friends. And please note what a contrast this is with verse 18 and following. There are the friends of Christ, in verse 13, who obey the word of God.

In verse 14, they are the bondservants of Christ. Verse 15, verse 16, they are those whom Christ has chosen. They are the ones who bear fruit. They are the ones, in verse 16 and verse 17, they are the ones who love one another.

But by total contrast, verse 18, if the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you.

Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. They kept my word, they will keep yours also. All this is saying there are two classifications of people in the world.

There are the friends of Christ who do the will of God, on the whole, in general pursuit, habitual lifestyle. And there are those who are God-haters, who are Christ-persecutors, and who are believer-persecutors.

For whom did Christ die? This does not say He died for the world. It says very clearly He died for His friends who were within the world, those who are the elect of God. In fact, verse 16 makes it abundantly clear, you did not choose me, but I chose you.

Ultimately, that is how you have come to be. My friend is because I initiated this relationship, I pursued you, I singled you out, I was the one who came to you and told you to leave your tax booth behind, come follow me.

I was the one who came to you on the shores of Galilee and said, you now come follow me. And it was because Christ chose them that they became His friends. Jesus said, it is for these and these only that He has died.

Do you see how precious it is to be the elect of God, that we are called the friends of Christ? Are you kidding me? You talk about Bilo Celhi, us? I mean, look around the room. Us? Friends of Christ? We have awakened in the king's palace.

Us? And we are brought into the king's palace by the nature of the death of Christ for His friends. You are His friend for whom He has died. There's one last text that I want you to see, John 17. John 17, I want to begin, I guess, at verse 1.

My eye is on verse 9. That will be the thunder of this. That will be the crescendo. But verse 1, Jesus spoke these things and lifting up his eyes to heaven, He said, Father, the hour has come. We know what this hour is.

It is the hour of His death. So, all that will come in this prayer from the Son to the Father has in focus this hour of His death upon the cross. And John 17 really becomes like John 10. It becomes His own commentary on His own death.

This is our Lord's prayerful commentary to the Father regarding His own death. Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. Now, here is the intent of His death in verse 2.

Even as you gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given Him, He may give eternal life. That is the intent of the cross, that He might give eternal life to those whom the Father has given to Him.

Again, He is a man with blinders on. He has tunnel vision. He is riveted. He is focused. He will not be deterred. He will not look to the left nor to the right. He will go to the cross to give eternal life to those whom the Father has given Him, and they are entirely distinguished in verse 2 from all flesh.

He is not going to the cross to make eternal life possible for all flesh. That is eisegesis. That is reading into the text. Exegesis, to read out of the text, is that He went to the cross in order to give eternal life to those whom the Father had given to Him, and that is the elect of God.

He defines in verse 3 what eternal life is, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. And the irony, the paradox is that He would give eternal life to us by virtue of His death.

Verse 4, I've glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. So there is a specific work, a very particular, defined, detailed, specific work that the Father has given to the Son.

He does not come down here on the earth to just weave all over the highway and to try to work different things out and to try this, sample this. No, there is a very specific God-assigned mission that the Father has given to the Son, and the Son will glorify the Father by completing to its entirety this saving mission.