Limited Atonement

Now, I want to remind you a little bit about what we've talked about in the last few weeks. We have been studying the Doctrines of Grace. The Doctrines of Grace is another nickname for what is often referred to as the Five Points of Calvinism.

And this is based on the teachings of the reformer John Calvin. And the Five Points of Calvinism come to us in an acrostic that we call TULIP, T-U-L-I-P. The first week we talked about total depravity.

You have the notes, and if you don't have the notes, I left the notes here for you to take with you. The second week, which was last week, we dealt with unconditional election. One of the things you may or may not remember is that John Calvin didn't write these Five.

Points.

John Calvin didn't establish the Doctrines of Grace. These Five Points are actually in response to a man by the name of Jacobus Arminius who was a student of Theodore Beza. Theodore Beza was a student of Calvin, and Arminius taught opposing the Doctrines of Grace that Calvin had taught.

And he taught five particular doctrines that his followers, known as the Remonstrants, popularized after his death, and it became known as the Five Points of Arminians. And the Five Points of Arminianism is what we respond to with the Five Points of Calvinism.

So the first point of Arminianism is free will. Every man has the ability to do good or bad according to his own free choice, and our response to that is total depravity, that the will of man is bound in sin, and apart from the grace of God, he will only sin continuously.

Our goodness is a response only to the grace of God. As Augustine said, I am completely responsible for all the bad that I do. God is completely responsible for all the good that I do. And so that is the Doctrine of Total Depravity.

Unconditional election, the Arminians taught that election was conditioned upon a person exercising faith, and the reformed response to that is no, the condition of faith cannot be met because man cannot do good toward God without grace, and so it is not conditional, it is unconditional because God is the one who makes the choice.

Now, if you've never heard these things before, it may seem like I'm talking with three heads up here, it may sound kind of crazy, and that's fine if you've never heard it, but I will encourage you, if tonight is the first time you have ever been exposed to the concepts of Calvinism or the doctrines of Reformed theology, please don't go running out the door screaming.

Please at least pay attention and allow me to go through all of this because it's a lot to think about, and these are not the shallow things, these are the deep things. These are not the simple things, these are the weighty things, and so tonight we're going to deal with the L in the TULIP, and the L in TULIP stands for Limited Atonement, Limited Atonement.

Now, some of you with good memories may remember that earlier in this study, because we're in a larger study of Systematic Theology, and we were studying Soteriology, and you may remember that about two months ago, in the midst of the study of Soteriology, I did a lesson on the extent of the Atonement, which is similar to tonight's lesson, but not the same, because what I was doing in the last lesson was I was showing why Limited Atonement is true.

Tonight, I'm not only going to do that, but in the little bit of time that I have, I am going to focus on the argument against it. So if you want more of a positive presentation, go back into the archives and listen to the lesson called The Extent of the Atonement.

I deal with John Owen, I deal with the concept of the death of death and the death of Christ, which is a book written by John Owen. That lesson is the precursor to tonight. So if some of what I say tonight seems a little confusing, go back and listen to the lesson called The Extent of the Atonement.

Nobody heard it here, because it was during the COVID thing, and I had to record it. So unless you listened to it online, you probably haven't heard it. But it is a necessary side, a necessary sister to tonight's lesson.

If all you get is tonight, you may find yourself feeling like I didn't give you enough information, while the other half of it is in that lesson. So let's talk about the Ellen Tulip for a minute. The Ellen Tulip is by far the most misunderstood, and therefore the most rejected, of the five points of Calvinism.

In fact, if you've ever heard someone call themselves a four-point Calvinist, which we were talking about earlier, almost universally, if a person says, I'm a four-point Calvinist, they are saying, I do not believe in the L.

They call themselves the Christmas Calvinist,.

Noel.

Oh, come on, that's a good joke, the Christmas Calvinist, the one with Noel. Years and years ago, when I was first studying the doctrines of grace, I was standing in Lifeway, which used to be a Bible bookstore here in town, they've since closed.

But I was there, and I was buying a book. I was buying the book, The Five Points of Calvinism, by Steele, it's the one that we gave away at the conference. I was buying a copy. And I was also buying a gift for someone else.

And as I was buying that gift, I decided to have the gift wrapped. So when you purchase something at Lifeway and had to get it wrapped, you had to wait about an extra 10 minutes, because the person working the register was also the person doing the wrapping, so you had to wait around for them to wrap the gift.

So I took that opportunity to read a little bit of that book. So I took a step back from the register, stood a distance off, and I opened the book and I began to read. And I noticed, and I don't know if you noticed this, you ever notice when somebody's watching you?

As I was reading the book, I noticed I was being watched. And this very small gentleman who was a pastor, and I only, he didn't tell me he was a pastor, but he was dressed like a pastor. He looked like a pastor.

And he came walking up beside me and he sidled up to me, and I'm standing, and nobody can pray as fast as me, because my prayer was, Lord, don't let him talk to me. I really, I didn't want to converse with him, I didn't want to argue with him, and I certainly didn't want to talk about Calvinism, but I knew why he was coming.

So he sidled up beside me, and he said, so what you reading?

Okay.

And I turned the book over, showed it to him, and he goes, oh, I see. Well what do you think of that? And I said, well, I'm in seminary, and I've been looking into Reformed theology, and it's part of my studies, and so I really was trying to avoid this conversation.

I was trying to kindly not get into it. And finally, he just said, well, I'll tell you what I don't like, asked, but go ahead. I'll tell you what I don't like, I don't like that L, I don't like that limited atonement.

And so I closed the book, and I said, sir, do you believe in hell? You believe people go to hell? And he said, well, of course I believe people go to hell. I said, then your problem isn't with limited atonement, your problem is with unconditional election.

I missed a part of the story. I said, do you believe in hell? And he said, yes, but I believe everyone gets a choice. And that's when I said, well, your problem isn't with the L, your problem is with the.

U.

You see, I believe limited atonement could be believed by Arminians if they were consistent. I believe limited atonement is so true that it goes beyond Calvinism because it is based in this question, is God just?

Limited atonement is the question, is God just? Because here's what most people will say, Jesus died for every person and every person's sins are forgiven on the cross. And I say, then why do people go to hell?

And they'll say, well, they don't believe. So did Jesus not die for unbelief? And is unbelief not a sin? You see, that's the problem. If Jesus died for a man's sins and that man goes to hell, then that means God has received a double payment.

And that means God is unjust. Even our own worldly human system of justice would not accept a double payment on behalf of one crime. We have something called double jeopardy. You can't be tried twice for one crime.

You can't be punished twice for one crime. And therefore, if Jesus has received in himself the punishment for a man's sin, and then that man goes to hell and receives the punishment for that man's sin, is that not an unjust act on behalf of Almighty God?

It certainly is. This was the argument of John Owen in the death of death and the death of Christ. His argument was simple. He said, Jesus has either died for all of the sins of all men, for all of the sins of some men, or for some of the sins of all men.

And here's how that works out. Well, I'd like for you to introduce you to my daughter Hope's artwork, because that was what was on the other side of the board. So, Jesus died for all sins of all men. That's what most people will say.

Jesus died for all sins of all men. Okay, why did they go to hell? Because they don't believe. Is unbelief a sin?

Yes.

So does Jesus' death not cover their unbelief? That's the first question. So this one, this one's out. The next one, they'll say, well, Jesus died for some of the sins of all men. Just not unbelief. He died for some of their sins, but not all their sins.

And the sin that he didn't die for was unbelief. That's one you've got to take care of. Doesn't work that way. That's out. Now, we say, excuse me, all sins of some men. I don't like that some men part.

Well, you haven't studied your Bible. The Bible talks about the fact that God has an elect people, and that those elect people are the people for whom Christ died. And now we're going to go to the Bible, and I'm going to show you.

In John 10, verse 15, Jesus is speaking.

And these are the words of Christ.

These are not the words of anyone else. These are the words of our Messiah, our Savior. Verse 14 says, I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. Right there, he makes a distinction. I know my own, and my own know me.

Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Who did Jesus die for in this passage?

The sheep.

Who is the object of the death of Christ in this passage? The sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep. What does Jesus say about the sheep and the goats? On the day of judgment, there's going to be this great division, right?

And the sheep are going to be taken away into my barn, and the goats are going to go where? Into everlasting punishment. Show me somewhere where it says Jesus died for the goats. I'll wait.

It doesn't say that.

He says, I lay down my life for the sheep. And somebody says, well, it doesn't say he didn't lay down his life for the goats. I'm making a positive presentation based upon the text. The text says he laid his life down for the sheep.

Now, Ephesians 5 and 25, and again, I know this is a lot to go through, but if you want to try to turn there as quick as I will, Ephesians chapter 5 and 25, the Apostle Paul is talking about the subject of marriage.

And he says to the husband, Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for all mankind.

Nope.

And gave himself up for... Who was the object of Christ's giving up of himself?

In that passage.

The church. Who is the church? The sheep. It's the same people. This is the Apostle Paul, essentially reiterating the same thing Jesus said. Jesus said, I lay down my life for who?

The sheep.

Paul says, Christ, he says, Husbands, love your wives, as what? Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. One of my favorite verses to take people to. Hebrews chapter 10. And again, I wish I had time to just sit here and exegete each one of these, but for the sake of time, I want to take you and show you this is not just one verse.

This is not just one concept or one idea. And I do want to get to the verses that people use to deny this. So I'm going rather quickly. So if you can't quite make it with me, that's fine. Just do your best.

And you can always get the notes afterwards. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 14. One of my favorite verses in the Bible. For by a single offering, he, that is Christ, has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Who are those who are being sanctified?

The sheep.

Who are those who are being sanctified? The church. Who are those who are being sanctified?

The elect.

Whatever you want to call them. And what does it say here? It says for by a single offering, that is the offering of himself, that is the offering of his body, that is the offering of himself on the cross tree at Calvary.

For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Now let me just remind you what the word sanctified means. It means set apart. It means not the whole. It means set apart from the whole.

Let me just point this out very clearly. This is not easy to take.

But again,.

Logic and scripture together demand the truth of this. When Jesus came into the earth, he died a substitutionary death. What does substitutionary mean? To be in the place of someone else. Jesus substituted for the elect.

He died on the cross for believers. And here's the thing. If I changed my language and I quit using the word elect and I start using the word believers, a lot of people would get a lot more comfortable.

They don't like that word elect. So let me just change the language and see if this helps you. Jesus died for believers.

People say,.

Well, what about John 3 .16? I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but what about John 3 .16? For God so loved the world.

They say,.

Well, see, you love the whole world. Yeah, but don't finish. You didn't finish the sentence. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that whosoever believes will not perish. It doesn't say everyone will not perish.

Oh, they want to argue about whosoever, but you know what whosoever translates? Pascha Pistouan in the Greek, and it means all the ones believing. So if I say all believers are the elect, and all the elect are the believers, John 3 .16 doesn't disagree with me.

John 3 .16 agrees. God loved the world so much that he decided to save some for himself. That's the Keith Standard version. It's a simple understanding, though, because it doesn't say, for God so loved the world that he decided to save everyone.

It says,.

For God so loved the world that he decided to save those who believe. Did Jesus die for everyone, or did Jesus die for those who believe? I am of the mind and of the belief, and I believe the scripture bears it out that Jesus died for those who believe.

And they are believers, as we have seen over the last two weeks, because God has opened their heart to believe, because naturally they wouldn't want to believe. In fact, the Bible says, Jesus clearly tells us, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Therefore it is said, no one can come unless it is granted to him by the Father. No one is going to come unless God does a work in their heart. Another verse that's important for you to know is John 17 .9.

John 17 .9. I'm jumping back to the words of Jesus now, since we have looked at Jesus, we've looked at Paul, we've looked to the author of Hebrews, who we don't know who that is, but I believe it's not Paul,.

So at least we've looked at.

Three different authors of scripture. Now we're going to go back to John and see the words of Jesus again. In John 17. Do you know what John 17 is? John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Jesus.

This is the,.

People always call the Lord's prayer, they'll say, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, they'll call that the Lord's prayer. That's not the Lord's prayer. That's the model prayer. That's the prayer for us.

Jesus doesn't need to pray that prayer, because he doesn't need to say forgive me of my debts. Jesus doesn't have any. The prayer of Jesus,.

The Lord's prayer,.

Is John 17. And in John 17 .9,.

I want you to hear this.

In John 17 .9,.

He says,.

I am praying for them. Who's the them? Well, we see that in verse 8. The them is those who believe. He says, I'm praying for them. I'm not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me,.

For they are yours.

So you're going to tell me Jesus died for these people, but he's not even going to pray for them?

Jesus said,.

I'm praying for the ones who believe. I'm not praying for the world, but the ones you've given me out of the world. Jesus is the intercessor, right? He's the intercessor for who? The Bible says he's the intercessor for those who believe.

We have an advocate with the Father. Who has an advocate with the Father? Those who believe. When we tell unbelievers, Jesus died for your sins, they say, well, so what? See, unbelievers don't...

You say, but I've got to be able.

To tell them that. You show me one place in Scripture where that was the way the apostles shared their faith. They went out to the world and said,.

Hey, Jesus loves you.

And he died for your sins. Never once did the apostles use that as a way of evangelism. You know what they do say? God has commanded all men.

Everywhere to repent.

And unless you repent, you will die in good health. That is the way they evangelize. Repent and believe. It was never,.

Jesus loves you.

And he died for your sins. That is a modern colloquial phrase. It is not a biblical one. I remember when I first started learning about this, I was offended. And I know some of you may be offended. Your emotions may be coming up.

I was offended because I was so used.

To telling everybody.

Jesus died for your sins. And you know what most people said?

I don't care.

I didn't ask for that.

Yes, sir?

I hate you.

No, you don't.

And what is that? It's the great evangelism story. The great sharing of the gospel throughout.

It never uses the word love.

I never thought about that. It's a powerful thought. I was just teasing you, by the way.

We have a great,.

Amy and I are very funny together. We have a great working relationship.

And we say,.

I don't want to interrupt.

Yes, you do.

I want to interrupt you, too.

Two more verses and then I'm going to talk.

About the verses.

That people use to deny a limited time. Acts 20, 28.

Going to Acts.

Acts 20, 28. This is the apostle Paul speaking to the elders. I believe the elders in Ephesus. And he says this.

He says,.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God,.

Which he,.

That is Christ, obtained with his own blood. Who is being purchased in that verse?

The church.

What is the purchase price? The blood of Christ. The elders are responsible to care for the church.

Why?

Because God bought it.

With the blood of his son.

That's why the church matters. People who talk about church doesn't matter. I had an interaction online with a guy today who was trying to make the point, well, the early church didn't meet once a week.

They met two or three times a year. I said, dude, cite your source. I said, because the early church met on the first day of the week from the very foundation.

Of the church.

And has continued to do so for 2 ,000 years. Tell me they met two or three times a year. Cite your source. As a church, as a amateur church historian, I was quite offended by someone who would say that.

Because it's not true. The church,.

The gathered body.

Is important.

And the constant mantra of the modern Christian.

Who tries to deny the importance of the gathered church. By the way, that's why everybody's so excited about having church online right now. You say, well, it's about COVID. Yeah, it's about COVID, but you know what else it's about?

It's about a lot of folks.

Who didn't wanna go to church.

To begin with.

And now they have an excuse.

Oh, I'm gonna be,.

Oh, that's gonna hurt, brother.

I may have to blame that one on you.

Yeah.

Somebody's gonna get offended by that, but I'm telling you the truth. A study came out last week.

That showed.

That a third of people have not had any intention.

Of going back to church.

That were regular church attenders before. I'm sorry to say,.

I think so.

Not for everybody.

I mean, there are people who have immune deficiencies and sicknesses and there are people.

Who are genuinely afraid,.

But I think a lot of people like the fact that they can go to church.

In their underwear.

Last but not least, for the passages, I wanna look at Romans 8 .32. Romans 8 .32, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

That passage is so clear. Who is Christ given up for?

Us.

Who is the us in Romans 8 .30 or 8 .32?

It's the elect.

Read the whole context. Who will bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, much more the one who was raised. So the focus of the passage is the elect.

And he said,.

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.

There are many more passages.

I just pulled out a few. John 10 .15 is my favorite though. He laid down his life for the sheep.

Now,.

What passages are used to deny limited atonement? I said this is what I wanted to focus on tonight. I still have several minutes to go, so I'm gonna use the rest of my time to deal with passages.

That people use.

To deny limited atonement.

If you're taking notes, and again I'll give you my notes.

When we're done,.

But if you are taking notes, you're writing or anything, the first one is this. Any passage where the word all or world is used is automatically thrown out as an argument against limited atonement.

Any passage where the word.

All or world is used automatically thrown out as a argument. And what's so funny too, and I hope I don't, I hope this doesn't sound like I'm being sarcastic too much, but I, people, I'll begin to talk about limited atonement.

People say, well, John 3 .16,.

I'm just like, yeah,.

I've never heard that.

I mean, honestly, you ever see a football game, everybody knows John 3 .16. You know, if you're gonna argue against it, come with more than that. They say, well, John 3 .16 is an important passage. Yes, but John 3 .16 uses the word world and all within a context.

And the word world and all always fit within a context. The word all, the Greek word for all is pas. Pas, ponta, pon. They're different constructions of the same word. And the word all can be taken individually or collectively.

If I say individually, it means each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things,.

And everything.

But if it is taken collectively, it means some of all types. For instance, and you've probably heard this before, if a newsman comes out tomorrow and he says, all Jacksonville turned out for the president's visit.

Well, certainly we would know.

That that did not mean.

All the people who were on CPAP machines. Certainly we would know.

That that didn't mean.

Every person who was.

In a nursing home.

Certainly we would know that that would mean.

Probably a majority.

Of the Democrats.

But wouldn't it be appropriate to say, all Jacksonville turned out for the president, if the term is being used in the collective rather than in the individual sense? Because the collective means people of all types.

Turned out.

That's what the word all means.

In fact,.

That's what the word almost always means. I'll give you another example. You ever heard the passage that says money is the root of all evil? Same word, poss. Is money the root of rape? I'm pretty sure not.

Is money the root of child abuse?

Well, it could be,.

But not necessarily. Is money the root.

Of any number of crimes?

So, how are we to understand that? Is the Bible... No, and modern translations actually fix the problem. Because money is the root of all,.

Or excuse me,.

The love of money.

Is the root of all evil is actually a translation in the King James, but if you read it in the ESV or a more modern translation, it says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Because that's what the word poss means.

It either means.

All without exception, or it means all without distinction. And the vast majority of times that it is used, it is all without distinction, not all without exception. For instance, in the Bible it says all Judea went out and was baptized by John.

Well, I'm pretty sure the Pharisees were not included.

In that group.

I'm pretty sure the soldiers, at least most of them, that were in the Roman army were not included in that group. And yet the text says all Judea went out and was baptized by John. When Jesus was preaching, the Pharisee says the whole world is going after him.

Use of the word world.

In the collective sense. Does the whole world mean everybody? Thayer's lexicon doesn't seem to think so, and this is one of the most widely used lexicons from the Greek language, and this is what it says.

It says, does the whole world mean everybody? The words world and all are used in some seven or eight senses.

In scripture,.

And it is rarely that all means all persons taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts. Some Jews and some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and so on, and has not restricted his redemption to either Jew or Gentile.

Think about Revelation chapter five. Revelation chapter five says that we saw the redeemed who were taken from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, and therefore the redeemed are of all the world.

You see there how the word all and world can be used. Now, probably the most difficult passage, and since I said I was going to address passages.

That people use to deny.

Limited atonement, the most difficult passage, and I will grant that it is a difficult passage in regard to Calvinism, is 1 John 2 .2, and I'll invite you to turn there because I am going to give you an understanding of it.

1 John 2 .2 is the one that everybody runs to when it comes to limited atonement. John 2 .2 says,. He, that is Christ, is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

See right there, I was wrong. Everything I said was wrong. You guys can call me here. Take me to home. It truly sounds like it denies everything that I've said so far, and honestly, if this were a debate, this would be the passage that I would expect my opponent to go to first.

However, we have to understand, first of all,.

That we're dealing with words.

That are within a context, and when it says in verse 2, He, that is Christ, is the propitiation for our sins, what does the word propitiation mean?

What's that?

No, it means to satisfy wrath. The word propitiation means to appease or to placate or to satisfy wrath, and so, Jesus satisfies God's wrath for us, it says, but not for us only,.

But also for the whole world.

You say, well, right there, Jesus satisfies the wrath of God.

For the whole world.

Okay, propitiation has one meaning, to satisfy wrath, but the word world has up to 11 different definitions, and I want to ask very quickly, what is the most common way that John uses? If you read through the Yohannine corpus, that means the writings of John, that includes John, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, and Revelation,.

That is the Yohannine corpus,.

If you read through.

The Yohannine corpus,.

You will find that the most likely use of John.

When he uses the word world.

Is comparing the distinction.

Between the Jews and the rest of the world.

The world, in John's mind, was everyone who was not a Jew. And the point of 1st John 2 .2 is not that Jesus is the propitiation for every single person in the world, but that he is not a propitiation.

Only for the Jews,.

But that he has propitiated.