Limited Atonement

CARM

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What I think I'll do now is get right in and jump into L. I've done a tulip or TUL so far or to you actually

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I've done the total depravity done Unconditional election and today I'm doing limited atonement.

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All right Let me get right into what a limit limited atonement is it's um, it's this Christ bore the sin only of the elect and Legally paid their sin debt and not the sin debt of everyone who ever lived

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So let me say it again in limited atonement Christ bore the sin only of the elect and legally paid their sin debt and not the sin of the world or not the sin of Everybody who ever lived that's the issue now

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What I want you to understand is this Christ's blood was certainly sufficient for all but not all sin was imputed to Christ now to impute means to reckon

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Legally to another's account So not all sin was imputed to Christ and I'll show you and I'll prove to you

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Not all sin was imputed to Christ later on now. There's absolutely proof of that in Scripture Nevertheless the sufficiency of Christ's blood and the extent of the legal act of his sacrifice are not the same thing

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Let me say this again the sufficiency of Christ's blood and the extent of the legal act of his sacrifice or the

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Extent of whose sin was imputed to him. It's not the same thing His blood is not the same thing as an imputation and a lot of people fail to get this

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To impute means to reckon to another's account Our sin was imputed to Christ first Peter 2 24.

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He bore our sin So it's an imputation it's a legal transference and we'll get into that a little bit more

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We have to understand that This issue of the atonement is a legal act

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You see sin is a legal problem since sin is breaking the law of God First John 3 4 says sin is lawlessness.

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So sin is a legal problem It's not only a legal problem, but it is definitely a legal problem and I keep emphasizing the word legal

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It's legal because it breaks the law of God And that's why it's legal real simple.

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Now. Maybe some of you didn't know this But Jesus equates sin and legal debt

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Jesus does that you're all familiar with the prayer our Father who art in heaven

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Thy kingdom come I will be done on earth as it is in heaven forgive us our debts in Matthew 6 12

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Ophelia is the word debt It means legal debt the parallel version in Luke 11 4 of the same prayer says and forgive us our

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Sins, that's her Martia Jesus equates debt legal debt and sin.

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That's what Jesus said in Matthew 6 12 and Luke 11 4 So again,

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I'm going to be emphasizing this sin is a legal problem and because it's a legal problem we need a legal solution

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Jesus was made under the law Galatians 4 4 and he never Sinned he never ever broke the law of God first Peter 2 22

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So Jesus sacrificed had to be according to the law because he's made under the law and it had to be

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Sufficient and proper in order to offer a legal solution For our legal problem.

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You see God will judge us according to the law if you lie You've broken the law of God.

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Therefore. There's a punishment associated with the law. The punishment is separation from God as a 59 to Again breaking the law of God is sin first John 3 4

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Now Jesus said Matthew 5 17 do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets I did not come to abolish but to fulfill

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Now we can get into all kinds of areas of how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament but in the context of our atonement

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Leviticus 17 11 for the life of The flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls

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Deuteronomy 17 1 you shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep Which has a blemish or any defect?

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Jesus was sinless. He was perfect in John 19 36 for these things came to pass that the scripture might be fulfilled

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Not a bone of him shall be broken. That's Exodus 24 36. You can talk about that But I'm just trying to show you that Jesus sacrifice was according to the

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Old Testament law He bore our sin in his body on the cross. That's first Peter 2 24

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You see our sin was imputed to him You got to understand something sin is a concept as well as an action

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It's something that I that I would do it. Let's just say hypothetically that I were to slap you on the face Now, why do

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I do that? If I did it because I don't like you and I just slap you and that's the only reason

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Then I've not loved you. I have sinned but what if there's a very dangerous bug Poisonous bug on your cheek and I slap you to stop you from being stung and being injured

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Well, then it's okay see the motivation is what makes something sinful or not now there's a little bit

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Yes, there's a note of that. But for our the intent what we're talking about here That our sin is something that occurs in us in our rebellion against God and if we purposely lie

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We've done this in our hearts. We have sinned now Sin is an issue that relates to the law of God Jesus was made under the law

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Galatians 4 4 and he never broke the law first Peter 2 22 and Our sin was transferred to him first Peter 2 24

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Legal debts can be transferred You see if I go to a restaurant and you have a legal debt of a meal that you forgot to pay

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I can get the cash out and I can pay your debt and And Legal debts are transferred.

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We know this we can pay each other's debts Our legal debt our breaking of the law our sin that was transferred to Christ Now a lot of people don't understand something here

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They don't know that on John this could be in John 19 30 on the cross Jesus says it is finished that Greek word.

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It's a single Greek word to tell us die It means it is finished in English and it has been found at the bottom of ancient tax documents

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Signifying a legal debt that has been paid in full Jesus says to tell us die. It's like him saying

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You know on a legal debt a legal action that that what's been happening has been fulfilled taken care of He was referencing the legality issue of his own sacrifice now

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There's a very very important verse Colossians 2 14. It's my go -to verse in so many things and this is what it says.

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I'm gonna read out of the NASB Jesus having canceled out the certificate of debt

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Consisting of decrees which is against us which was hostile to us and he's taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross

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Now in Greek having canceled the two words having canceled is the Greek X ellipse us and it's what's called an aorist

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Participle in the Greek and what it means is it's an action completed. It's ongoing completed in the past.

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It's done Having canceled it is done in the past tense. It's done there Now different translations will use it differently

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The King James says blotting out the new King James having wiped out the

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ASV the authorized standard version and the young's literal translations say having blotted out the

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ESV says Canceling the NIV says having canceled you see the idea is it doesn't exist anymore

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That's what it means The Greek word means to cause something to cease by obliterating any evidence to eliminate to do away with to wipe it out

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In other words, it's gone. It is canceled and let me read this verse again

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Colossians 2 14 Jesus having canceled out the certificate of debt Consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us.

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He's taken it out of the way having nailed to the cross Now, when's it taken away? When is the debt the certificate of debt we'll get into this a little bit more

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When was it taken away when you believe or when it was nailed to the cross? Well, this is significant

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Jesus having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us He's taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross

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The certificate of debt is canceled at the cross now in the Greek the phrase certificate of debt is a single

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Greek word chirographon and what it means is a legal document a handwritten document that legally binds you a handwritten document of indebtedness and Paul uses the word here.

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It's the only place that occurs in the entire Bible Chirographon only occurs right here in Colossians 2 14

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Says Jesus having canceled out the certificate of debt. That's the NASB now

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What is it that's canceled out? Think about it If it's our sin debt that's canceled then nobody can go to hell for whom the debt has been canceled

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It is that simple we'll get into some objections and I'll answer some stuff, but you gotta understand something

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It's a legal act that Jesus did in the cross when he bore our sin in his body in the cross Now when we look at Colossians 2 14, we only have two options

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We have the moral law is what was canceled and the sin debt was canceled If it's the moral law that was canceled in Colossians 2 14 at the cross not when you believe incidentally

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I don't care what you say if you disagree with that go to Colossians 2 14 and it says he canceled the certificate of debt

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Having nailed it to the cross. That's when it was canceled. It was not canceled when you believe

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Well, this may blow a lot of people's minds, but that's what the text says Colossians 2 14 go check it out now

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If it's the case that what the certificate of debt is referring to is only the moral law Then there's a problem

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If it's the moral law only that is done away with and If it's done away at the cross for everybody because that's who he died for for everybody bore everybody's sins

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Then everybody has to go to heaven because you see Romans 7 4 says therefore my brethren you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ and Romans 4 15

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For the law brings about wrath, but where there is no law there is no violation

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You see that well, there is no law there is no violation. There's no sin if there is no law

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If the law the certificate of debt is that law? the chirograph on is the written law and it's been canceled and removed and If it's been canceled and removed for everyone then nobody can go to hell because there is no violation

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Romans 4 15 Romans 7 4 now

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If on the other hand what is talked about here is the sin debt Then we have another problem for those people who don't believe in limited atonement if our sin

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Debt is what is paid for in the cross and Colossians 2 14 says that it's canceled and that's what it says

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Then it's either canceled for everybody or it's not canceled for everybody It's either canceled for everyone who ever lived or it's not canceled for everyone who ever lived people will say well

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Matt You know you got to believe well, we'll get to that Just just hold your horses a little bit. I want to give you an illustration.

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I want to give you an illustration of something Is I call it I call him coma man.

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Now, let's think in the terms of legality. Remember Sin is breaking the law of God first John 3 for Jesus bore our sin a sin debt can be transferred

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It was transferred to Christ. He bore sin in his body in the cross now coma, man There's a man on a way on his way to to the bank to pay a mortgage payment

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He's got a whole bunch left to pay but he's bakes his monthly payment and on the way there he gets in a car accident and He he ends up in the hospital for a whole month in a coma while he's in the coma a man a

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Philanthropist hears about his dilemma knows he's gonna have a lot of medical bills and just I decide to take pity on him

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And he goes to the bank and he writes a check and he pays off the man's mortgage It's paid now.

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I got a question for you Is it paid or is it not paid? Of course, it's paid.

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All right Does that debt exist anymore? No, it does not

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Can that man be held responsible for a debt that doesn't exist? No, he can't

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This is a debt canceled. Yes. Is it blotted out? Yes. Is it wiped away? Yes.

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Does it exist anymore? No Can he be held responsible for it? No If Jesus bore the sin of everybody who ever lived and as Colossians 2 14 says he canceled out the certificate of debt if he did it for everybody then everybody must go to heaven because There is no sin debt left

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Now people say to me what Matt they've got to believe. Yes, they do have to believe God infallibly brings them to the faith

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He grants that they believe Philippians 1 29 Our believing is the work of God John 6 28 29 as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed

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Acts 13 48 he grants repentance to them 2nd Timothy 2 25 God knows who are his whom he has called whom he has given to the

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Son for redemption he Jesus redeems them bears their sin

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Which is in the future and in the past because there are people in the Old Testament Who Jesus bore the sin of and people in the future us now who

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Jesus bore the sin of? The elect the chosen ones he bore their sin and we will at the right time

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Come to a saving faith because God will grant us repentance grant that we believe and give us that ability to believe

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We'll get into that on the irresistible grace on the next lesson on tomorrow Now again, if you say that he bore the sin of everybody who ever lived and it's canceled as Colossians 2 14

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Says you've got a problem Because it says it's canceled. You can't go to hell for a sin that that's canceled

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Well, some people just couldn't mean they say well Matt you have to believe you've got to receive it In coma man situation does he have to believe that the sin excuse me that his debt is paid nor for it to be paid

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Nope, does he have to believe it in order for it to actually have been applied to his account?

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Of course not So coma man wakes up. There's a miraculous recovery. He goes to the bank and he explains his is

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His reason for being late and he hands a check to the teller the teller looks up his account and says sorry

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It's been canceled been blotted out. It's been wiped away Well, what did that happen? Oh a few weeks ago,

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I guess when you were in the hospital and Why wasn't even aware of it? I don't accept that the bank teller is gonna say doesn't make any difference

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Because if it's legally taken care of it's legally taken care of it doesn't depend on your attitude

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It's a legal thing not an attitudinal thing And even though the coma man illustration coma man was unconscious and not aware of his debt being paid

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It has no bearing on whether or not legally it was or was not paid Now no analogy is perfect in Christianity we are justified by faith

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Romans 5 1 because we believe and that's when we experience the righteousness of Christ imputed to us

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Philippians 3 9 we have a righteousness. That's not our own Because we receive the righteousness of Christ who lived perfectly and never sinned first Peter 2 22

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He's the one who did this and so we were counted in him we'll get into that a little bit, too

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So you see the problem Colossians 2 14 raises It's a serious issue.

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I Want you to reveal it Colossians 2 14 says he canceled the certificate of debt at the cross. He doesn't cancel it when you believe

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Now, I know some people are gonna just object to that then I have a solution for you Take a magic marker just wipe out

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Colossians 2 14 and that way no more problem for you We'll take an exacto knife cut it out. No more problem for you, but that's what it says

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I've not heard anybody get out of this argument. I've not heard anybody Excuse themselves from it and say that Jesus bore the sin of everybody who ever lived you see the problem

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Now, let me run something by you Let's just say that someone says no Jesus legally bore the sin of every individual who ever lived and Because they didn't believe in him which itself is a sin, but because they didn't believe in him they go to hell

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Let me ask you then is there sin paid for yes, and why they're going to hell because they didn't believe is not believing a sin

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Yes So was that paid for? Do you pay for all of our sins?

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Some people say well all of them except that well, where's that in the scriptures? Show me that in Scripture.

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It's not in the book of hesitations of the book of Deuterectomy Show me in Scripture if God sends to hell

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The people for whom their sin that has been canceled then God himself is unrighteous

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If you want to say that Jesus did cancel the sin debt But because they didn't believe which doesn't make any sense, but because they didn't believe they're going to hell anyway

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Then you're saying they go to hell for a sin debt that's been canceled It's unrighteous.

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What are you accusing God of being? Don't bring them down to your level.

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I know I'm being harsh aren't I you know? Yes, we must believe

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But non -belief is not the unforgivable sin The unforgivable sin is blasphemy the

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Holy Spirit Matthew 12 22 to 32 Read the context They were saying

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Jesus was performing his miracles by the power of the enemy And he said blasphemy against the

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Holy Spirit will not be forgiven because Jesus was performing his miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit There are many people who have denied

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Christ who have not believed who have refused to believe in Christ and then have later believed if unbelief was the unforgivable sin, then they could never be forgiven and They would have to go to hell

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People don't think this through We are commanded to believe in God Exodus 20 verse 3.

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You shall have no other gods before me Deuteronomy 6 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your might

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John 14 1 Do not let your heart be troubled believe in God believe also in me Belief is a command part of the law

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Did Jesus pay for all of your sin Obviously not the sin of the blasphemy the Holy Spirit Obviously not that he did not pay for the sins of the blasphemy the

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Holy Spirit. He did not and There's yet something else that I'm going to show you that Jesus could not have

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Born the sin of I'm gonna turn to 1st Samuel 3 verses 13 and 14

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For I have this God speaking for I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew because His sons bought us could be brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.

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This is God speaking Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house

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Shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever or offering forever

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Did Jesus bear the sin of everyone who ever lived nope Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever for Samuel 3 14

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Now some people may say Matt that's in the context of Old Testament sacrifices. That's all it's referring to really will not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.

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Is Jesus' sacrifice a sacrifice? Yeah. Is it an offering to God? Yes. Is it included in the forever?

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Yes. Did Jesus bear their sins? No, he could not.

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Now a lot of people don't know that there are two kinds of limited atonement.

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Now here's a shock. So I'm gonna ask you, which kind of limited atonement do you believe in? You see, you either limit the power of Christ's sacrifice or you limit the scope.

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Generally speaking, limited atonement means that the scope of Christ's sacrifice is limited.

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It's limited only to the elect, not to everyone who ever lives. But in the other view, the power of Christ's sacrifice is limited.

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You see, the Reformed believe that the sacrifice of Christ is so powerful that it automatically, effectively, cancels the sin debt for everyone for whom

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Christ died. Therefore, the Reformed limit the scope. The non -Reformed don't believe the sacrifice of Christ is so powerful that it automatically cancels the sin debt for everyone for whom

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Christ died. Therefore, they limit its power. Either the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is powerful enough to automatically remove our sin or it is not.

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The Reformed say it is, the non -Reformed say it's not. They say it's a sacrifice of God.

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He fulfilled the law, he bore our sins, he paid the price, he canceled the debt, but it does not automatically cancel your debt.

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It's not that powerful. And which one do you wanna hold to? Which one do you hold to?

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Let's take another little direction here. Did you know that Jesus says who he lays his life down for? He says he lays his life down for the sheep, not the goats, the sheep.

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John 10, 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10, 15, even as the

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Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay my life down for the sheep. He doesn't say he lays his life down for the goats.

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Now check this out, Matthew 25, verses 31 through 33. But when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

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All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

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And he'll put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. And of course, the goats go to hell.

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John 10, 26, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. You're not of my sheep,

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John 10, 26. Now remember, Jesus says he lays his life down for the sheep.

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That's what he specifically says. John 10, 27, 28, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

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John 17, 20, and he's talking here. This is really interesting. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, the disciples in the context, but for those also who believe in me through their word.

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He's only asking the Father on behalf of the sheep. Now, I've already gone over this issue that Jesus did not pay for all sin, he didn't.

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Did not pay for blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Samuel 3, verse 14, he did not atone for the sins of Eli's house.

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He didn't. Who did he pay for? He paid for those whom

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Christ represented on the cross. Now check this out.

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Romans 6, 8, now if we have died with Christ. Colossians 2, 20, if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world.

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Colossians 3, 3, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Second Timothy 2, 11, it is a trustworthy statement for if we died with him, we shall also live with him.

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Says we died with him. When did we die with him? When did we die, when did we die with Jesus?

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We died with him in his death. When did Jesus die? 2 ,000 years ago.

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Romans 6, 6 says, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him. Our old self was crucified with him.

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Wait a minute, what does that mean? Does it mean everybody who ever lived was crucified with Christ?

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Because if you're crucified, you no longer live to the law. You no longer are your own.

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You're a Christian. Our old self was crucified with him. Would we say that an unbeliever, those who have gone to hell or going to hell, oh no, they were crucified with Christ 2 ,000 years ago.

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Yeah, and two verses later in Romans 6, 8, we have died with Christ. Yeah, they died with him too, but they go to hell.

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It doesn't make any sense. We never find anywhere in scripture where it says an unbeliever has died with Christ.

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It's always a believer who dies with Christ, never the unbeliever. And having said that,

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I wanna show you something. We never find any place in scripture where unbelievers have died to sin, died with Christ, died to the world.

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It's always only the believers. 2 Corinthians 5, 14.

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For the love of Christ controls us, having included this, that one died for all, therefore all died.

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Some people say, Matt, see, there you go. He died for all. That means everybody ever lived. Let's work with that. For the love of Christ controls us, having included this, that one died for everyone who ever lived, therefore everyone who ever lived died.

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Really? They died with Christ? Is that what it's talking about? They died to the elementary principles of the world?

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Is that what it's saying? For the love of Christ controls us, having included this, that one died for everyone who ever lived, therefore everyone who ever lived died.

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That's not what's going on. How about this? For the love of Christ controls us, having included this, that one died for the elect, therefore the elect died.

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That makes sense. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, Romans 6, 6.

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We died with Christ, Romans 6, 8. When did Christ die? 2 ,000 years ago.

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So we were crucified with him. You see, that's called federal headship, that he represented us.

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Federal headship is the teaching that the male represents a descendants. In Adam all die.

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1 Corinthians 15, 22. In Christ all shall be made alive.

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Shall be made alive can't be everybody. That all can only be the elect.

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Let me say this again, 1 Corinthians 15, 22. For as in Adam all die, that means he represented his people, which is everybody.

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So also in Christ all will be made alive. The only ones in Christ are the believers, the elect.

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They all will be made alive. That's the only way it makes sense.

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Also Romans 5, 18. So as through one offense, there resulted condemnation to all men.

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That's everybody, no problem. So also through one righteous deed, there resulted justification of life to all men.

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Who's the all who were justified? Again, only the believers. And they're called the all.

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Now Romans 5, 18 is an interesting verse. I don't have time to go into it right now. I've done it before. I've studied this verse for like 25 years.

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And the NASB Bible has the best translation. The King James adds words into it. The other translations soften it.

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And I can do a little addendum to some of this by going through that particular verse. But nevertheless, for now, it parallels 1

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Corinthians 15, 22, both written by Paul. 1 Corinthians 15, 22. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

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That is regeneration, that is salvation. That all will be made alive. And I don't teach universalism, that everyone's going to heaven.

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But that all can only be the elect. It can only be the elect.

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It doesn't make sense to say it could be anything else. Check this out. Jesus says this in John 6, 37 through 40.

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All that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I certainly will not cast out.

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Who's the all? The one's given to him by the Father. For I've come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

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This is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he's given me, I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day.

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You see? Trust me, I can go through this quite a bit on this thing of the all.

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But I only have an hour on this show and I want to get this done. So we see, it makes sense to say that he only died for the elect.

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Now, you know, there are people who say, well, Matt, I understand what you're saying.

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It makes sense. But what do you do about these verses that says he dies for the world?

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The first one that I'll look at is John 1, 29, which says this. Behold the

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Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. See, Matt, he takes away the sin of the world, not just the elect.

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Does he take away the sin of the world? If you say yes, and you mean everybody who ever lives, then is the sin of everyone who ever lived taken away?

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If it's taken away, they can't go to hell. If that's what you mean. Did he take away the sin of those who are damned?

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If the word world means everyone who ever lived? So many people just assume the word world means everyone who ever lived.

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Well, how do you know? See, look, what does Romans 3, 6 say?

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May it never be, for otherwise, how will God judge the world? Talking about sin and righteousness.

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How will God judge the world? I think that means everybody who ever lived, no problem. But how about Acts 11, 28?

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One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine over all the world.

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And this took place in the reign of Claudius. Did the great famine over all the world, all over the world, did it occur in New Zealand?

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In Australia? Did it occur there? In Alaska? At that time?

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The word world here means a limited area. How about this one, Matthew 26, 13?

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Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in her memory.

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This deals with all the nations. In the whole world. In the whole world. Whole world.

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That's talking about all the nations, all the areas. John 1, 10. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him.

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The world did not know him. We could say that is the secular realm. The realm of the unbelievers, the world of the unbelievers.

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We could also go to Acts 17, 24. The God who made the world and all things in it.

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Well that's talking about the planet Earth. So the word world means at least five different things depending on the context.

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Every individual, a limited area, all the nations, secular realm, and the planet

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Earth. When people say he's a sin bearer of the whole world, what do they mean?

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What are they reading into the text? Does their context demand that it mean everybody who ever lived?

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If it means everybody who ever lived in John 1, 29, well then why does anybody go to hell?

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If he takes away the sin of the world, of everybody who ever lived, it wouldn't make any sense.

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You see his problem? Furthermore, who was Jesus sent to? Was he sent to the world?

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Was he sent to the world to redeem the world and all that? No he wasn't. He was not sent to the world.

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That's right, he was not sent to the world. Matthew 15, 24, this is what

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Jesus says. I was sent not except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

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He says he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Was he sent to Egypt? Nope.

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Was he sent to Syria? Nope. Notice Matthew 10, five.

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These 12 Jesus sent out after instructing them saying, do not go in the way of the Gentiles and do not enter any city of the

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Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He's saying only go to Israel.

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See Jesus was sent covenantally to Israel but Israel broke the covenant with the Messiah, with God who was to send the

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Messiah. Then we the Gentiles are grafted in. When it says the sins of the whole world, all the nations, all the people groups, all of them.

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Acts 10, 45 and all the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the

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Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also. They understood Jesus, the

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Messiah, was only supposed to come for the people of Israel. They were surprised that it was upon the

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Gentiles also. Acts 11, one. Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the

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Gentiles also had received the word of God. Acts 11, 18. When they had heard this they quieted down and glorified

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God saying, well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.

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Romans 3, 29 and 30. Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also?

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Yes, of Gentiles also. Since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

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The point is that Jews understood the Messiah was there only for the Jews. Jesus even said he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

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So when he says that the sins of the whole world, does it mean every individual? Does it mean all the nations?

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Which one do you assume is the case? And if you assume it, can you back it up with scripture?

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Because I can back mine up. Let's go to John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.

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For God so loved the world. You see, it's everybody who ever lived. Really, how do you know?

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It's just an assumption. How do you know that's what it means? Well, because it says whosoever.

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No, it doesn't. In the Greek, it does not say whoever, which is the Greek word hos. It says pas hapistoun, all the believing one.

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All the believing one. All of the ones believing. Doesn't say that they do it out of their exercise or free will in their sinfulness and they come there and that's how it is and then therefore it has to be for everybody.

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So much is read into this verse. Now does God love all people? In one sense, yes.

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Matthew 5, 43 through 48. In another sense, no. Because he hates people who do iniquity. Psalm 5, 5.

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Psalm 11, 5. But when he says he loves the world, it's not just the Jewish nation.

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It's all the nations. How about John 6, 33? For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.

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If the word world means everybody who ever lived, does he give life to them? What does that mean? Is he giving them salvation?

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That's what life means, eternal life? Doesn't make sense. But it does make sense if the word world means all the nations.

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How about Romans 8, 32 through 33? He who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all.

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How will he not also give him freely, give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect?

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God is the one who justifies. Now notice the context of who the all is. In the context of the elect.

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People think, okay, man, you're going too far. Read it. Read it. Us all.

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He delivered him over for us all. Could it be everybody ever lived? Well, I think it's possible.

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Exegetically possible. I don't think it's legally possible because Jesus canceled the certificate of debt on the cross,

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Colossians 2, 14. He finished it legally on the cross, John 19, 30. And if a sin debt's canceled, you can't be held responsible for it.

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Romans 14, 15, for if because of food your brother is hurt, you're no longer walking according to love, but do not destroy your food, with your food, for whom

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Christ died. Does destruction mean they go to hell? Could it be that, what is it referring to, with stumbling your brother in the

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Lord and contributing to his sin, and thereby he's physically destroyed because of sin, excuse me, but not spiritually destroyed?

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We can go on to all kinds of possibilities here. But these aren't even aren't the good ones.

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First Timothy 4 .10 is supposed to be one of their favorites. For it is for this that we labor and strive because we have fixed our hope on the living

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God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. So let's take the word all and let's insert everyone who ever lived, okay?

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He is the Savior of everyone who ever lived, especially of believers. Okay, got a question.

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Is he the Savior of those in hell? How is he the Savior of those who aren't saved?

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How is he the Savior of those who are damned? How did he save them? Is he their Savior?

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He's not their Savior if he didn't save them. But he is a Savior generically of the whole world.

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He is a Savior of all kinds of men, all sorts of men. That's how we could understand it very clearly, of all men, the

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Jews, the Greeks, all men, especially of those who believe.

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Now that makes sense. How about Hebrews 2 and 9? But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely

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Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

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People say, well, that proves he died for everyone. Does it? Where does it say he bore everyone's sin?

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Where does it say he died for everyone? It says, well, he tasted death for everyone. Well, what is, seriously, what does the phrase taste death for everyone mean?

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You see, a lot of people, they'll just say, Matt, you're asking dumb questions. I don't think it's a dumb question.

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What does it mean? I don't wanna just assume it means something and then make a theology on an assumption.

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I wanna see if my assumption can be substantiated by the Scriptures. I go look at what it means in the

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Scriptures. I go see if the phrase occurs at other places. I go look at its pattern. Now we know that to taste suggests some sort of an experience, but what does it mean to experience death for everybody?

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Is it, speaking of the experience of Christ, showing what the death to the world ought to be?

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Does it mean that it was sufficient for all but only efficient for some? What does it mean?

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If you wanna tell me that it absolutely means it's for everybody to ever live, then you have to prove that's the case.

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And don't just say, well, that's what it says. That's not what it says. He tasted death for everyone. What does that mean?

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You have to prove it from Scripture. Don't just make an assumption and then run with it. The blood of Christ, it could be that he tasted death, which

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I certainly believe the blood of Christ is sufficient for all, but Christ only legally bore the sin of the elect.

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It could be that the all who he's talking about is the elect because there seems to be a pattern where that's the case.

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All that you've given me, I will lose none. God doesn't look in the future to see who's gonna pick him, then he gives them to the

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Son. This picking, this choosing, this selection is before the foundation of the world. That's Ephesians 1, verses four and five.

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And I know people go to Romans 9, 20, excuse me, 8, 29, and 30. Those of you who are foreign know he also predestined.

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It's not about looking in the future to see who'd pick him under different circumstances and then God will pick them.

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We've already gone over this. That's a false teaching. And besides, it says those whom he foreknew he also predestined.

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The foreknown ones are also the predestined ones. They're the same group. We could make the case that the all here is the elect.

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Let's go to 2 Peter 2, 1. But false prophets also arose among the people just as there will also be false teachers among them who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even, get this, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

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Now, Matt, that proves your limited atonement thing is false. No, it doesn't. If Jesus only paid for the elect, no one can ask.

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Why does it say that the false teachers denied the Lord who bought them? One of the things I do when

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I address this with people is I ask them, have you read the context? Have you looked at the context of what

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Peter's saying? And they say, of course you have. We've looked. Who's Peter writing to?

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He's writing to the Jews. They are the aliens scattered abroad, 1 Peter 1, verse one.

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In his two epistles, he refers to the Old Testament in 1 Peter 1, verses 22 through 25, in chapter two, verses six through nine, in chapter two, verse 24, in chapter three, verses eight through 12, in 2

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Peter 2, verses five through eight, in 2 Peter 2, verses 21, in 2 Peter 3, verses four through six.

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He's referring to the Old Testament a great deal, isn't he? So I got a question for you. Is it reasonable to say that he is maybe referring to something in the

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Old Testament? Well, I offer this for your perusal.

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Deuteronomy 32, six. Do you thus repay the Lord of foolish and unwise people? Is not he your father who has bought you?

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He has made you and established you. Moses was addressing the rebellious

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Israelites who were turning away from God. Is not he our father who has bought you?

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That is, didn't God redeem you from the tyranny of Egypt? Yes, he did. Does it mean they're all going to heaven?

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No. It means that they were all followers of Yeshua, of Yahweh? No. No.

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What sense were they bought in? The generic sense of being set free. The Jews also were like that.

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There were false teachers inside of Judaism. And he is referencing you denying the

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Lord who bought you. Don't you see the freedom that you have in Christ? And you don't even want that. You're denying the

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Lord who bought you. Just as it was in Egypt, so is it is here. He's addressing the Jews. He's alluding most probably to that historical event.

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Now, we know false prophets weren't saved. Notice what it says in 2

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Peter 2 .1. But false prophets also rose among the people. Are they Christians? No. Are they saved? No.

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Have they been purchased and had their sins canceled at the cross? Obviously not. Can't be that they're talking about true believers because they're not believers.

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They're false prophets. We're running out of time. Let me get you some more verses. 1

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John 4 .14, we have seen and testified that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Again, if the word world means everyone who ever lived, is he the

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Savior of those who are damned? Of course not. See the problem there. Let's get to 1

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John 2 .2. This will be the last verse we'll have time to go through. There's some others that people are gonna say, you didn't answer this one.

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Well, I'm sorry, we're running out of time. 1 John 2 .2, and he himself is a propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

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Now, we Reform people say that the word world is referring to all the nations, which I've already made the case, can be the case.

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Both Jew and Gentiles, not just a Jewish nation. Remember, Jesus was sent to Israel, not to the

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Gentile nations, Matthew 15 .24. We were later grafted in. As Jesus said, he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 15 .24.

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Did you know that the word propitiation, it's very interesting. It means the removal of wrath by a sacrifice, by the offering of a gift.

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That's what it means, a new Bible dictionary. Okay, talks about that. It is also the act of appeasing another person's anger by the offering of a gift.

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The Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Propitiation means the sacrifice that removes wrath.

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Did he propitiate the whole world if the word world means every individual? Did he remove the wrath of God for everyone who ever lived?

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Apparently not, since people are going to hell. That's what word propitiation means, comes from the Greek, holosmos.

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If the word world means the elect, no problem. If the word world means just all the nations and the elect within the nations, then no problem.

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But if you wanna say it means everyone who ever lived, you've got a problem. Because how is it that he propitiated, that he removed the wrath of God from everybody who ever lived, if it means for the whole world and the word world means everyone who ever lived?

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It doesn't make sense. If you view the sacrifice of Christ as a legal sacrifice, and if you understand that sin is breaking the law of God, and therefore we will be judged, and Jesus bore our sin in his body on the cross,

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First Peter 2 .24. If you understand that Jesus made a legal sacrifice, as it says in John 19 .30,

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it is finished, the Greek tetelestai, an act of legal debt payment. If you understand that Jesus equated sin with legal debt in Matthew 6 .12

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and Luke 11 .4, if you understand that he made a legal payment on the cross according to the

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Old Testament law, which is clearly the case, and he died with our sins in his body, that's

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First Peter 2 .24, that means our sins were legally reckoned to his account. That means our sin debt was put upon him, and he canceled it,

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Colossians 2 .14, at the cross. It's not canceled when you believe, it's canceled at the cross.

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That's what Colossians 2 .14 says. If that is the case, it must be that God who gave the elect to the

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Son from the foundation of the world, as Jesus says in John 6 .37 -40, all that you've given me,

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I will lose none, and that we were chosen from the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1 .4 and 5. That Jesus would be the one who would bear the sins of the ones given to him, and he would die on that cross bearing their sins, bearing their legal debt, canceling their legal debt on the cross, and then

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God infallibly brings to the faith by predestination those for whom

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Christ died. The sin debt that was actually canceled by Jesus on the cross was canceled for the elect.

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Then we are granted the act of believing, Philippians 1 .29. Our believing is the work of God, John 6 .28

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-29. That's when we're justified. That's when the actual righteousness of Christ is imputed to us when we believe.

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He canceled the sin debt on the cross 2 ,000 years ago, did it for the elect.

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Then the elect are granted the act of believing later on, and that's when they're imputed with the righteousness of Christ, Philippians 3 .9,

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having a righteousness that's not our own, but a righteousness that comes from God. Are you gonna tell me that he paid for the sins of everybody who ever lived, and their sin debt has been canceled, yet they also go to hell?

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That's accusing God of unrighteousness, for God cannot condemn people to hell who don't have a sin debt held to their name.

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And if you wanna say that Jesus only potentially saved them, only potentially atoned for them, then you're weakening the very sacrifice of Christ, and you believe in limited atonement, and that you believe in limiting the power.

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We believe in limiting the scope, because it is so powerful. We believe that God accomplished what he set out to accomplish, and he actually did save those whom the

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Father gave to the Son for saving, having been chosen for salvation, Second Thessalonians 2 .13,

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and given to the Son, Romans 6. It's gonna be John 6, 37 through 40.

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That's what I believe. That's what I believe is the case. Now, before this ends, let me say,

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Romans 14, do not pass judgment on your brothers and your sisters in these debatable issues.

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My goal is not to convince you that this position is true. My goal is to convince you that we have a position that we can defend from Scripture.

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Though you may not agree with everything I've said, at least I want you to come away saying, all right, they take the word of God seriously.

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They do look at these verses. They don't just close their eyes and ignore what the obvious is.

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They look, they think. Look, we're all saved by the blood of Christ, and we need to look to him, and we need to glorify him.

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That's the truth, amen, and amen, and by his grace, be back in the studio tomorrow, and we'll talk about irresistible grace.