The Power & Extent of Christ’s Death | 1 John 2:2

The Sermon Title and the Doctrine of the Atonement

All right, the sermon title today is.

The Power and Extent of Christ's Death. The Power and Extent of Christ's Death. Based on 1st John chapter 2 verse 2. And can everybody hear me, okay? Everybody can hear me, okay. This is also known as the atonement the atonement and it's a vitally important doctrine a Cardinal doctrine that has resulted in much controversy and debate throughout the history of the church.

So.

You will find me juggling through scripture church history and doctrinal stances and Will repeat certain themes to maximize clarity and to help us grasp. Just what is at stake in light of this doctrine and and It's always I'm always finding such a blessing how the Lord providentially.

Even in the music that we sing today that we sang today His oath his covenant his blood Support me in the whelming flood his blood that's pointing to the atonement and And even in our last hymn how he watches or his loved ones died to call them all his own.

How for them he interceded watches over them for from the throne so this is all touching on this vital doctrine of the atonement and In light of Also that it's the new year. We we often Talk about resolutions and and how it's just the beginning of a new of a new phase for us and It's a good time to reflect and to self-examine to examine ourselves and to see where we stand how we are doing in our walk with the Lord and to really strive to strive to grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord and Savior and This also this there's an interesting connection here to the Bible because one of the biggest and most important days in the Old Testament was the day of atonement known as Yom Kippur and This day of atonement was when the priests would sacrifice on behalf of the entire nation of Israel.

To.

Try to cover the sins of the people and this is again precisely what we're going to be discussing today. What I'm going to be preaching on today in this pattern this verse. So but before we do that first I did want to apologize and it would have been nice to have the Brothers from Chaparral Church present as well, but I did want to apologize if my Christmas message was a little too hard and heavy at first.

While I cannot I cannot apologize for the substance of my criticisms of Santa Claus. Because I don't see how it's possible to celebrate Santa without breaking the first two Commandments. And because the scriptures are unequivocally clear that idolatry is a sin So offensive to God that even the New Testament commands the immediate excommunication of idolaters.

I nevertheless saw read pun intended and Got a little trigger-happy without fully consulting our elders and should have been more More careful in delivering my judgments to avoid coming off as too sudden.

So.

As I've said before please bear with us since we are still new to this and are striving to continue learning and improving and Do offer us any helpful feedback that you might have. Now that being said I also hope and pray that we as a church as a household of faith take proper offense.

Not because I expose Santa Claus as an idolatrous imposter but take proper offense against our pagan culture and against the idolatrous Roman Catholic Church. Against vain traditions that deify and idolize men be it Santa or otherwise.

Against the shallow Protestantism and evangelicalism that embraces these worldly Trojan horses. But we also want to walk this out with you and applying it to our lives. If you have any questions or concerns, you know that the elders are here for you and are more than willing to come alongside you to strive for us to be of one mind the mind of Christ and To equip the Saints for the work of ministry.

That is to build up the body of Christ. Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. A mature person. Attaining to the measure of Christ's full stature. So we are no longer to be children tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching.

By the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes, but practicing the truth in love. We will in all things grow up into Christ who is the head the soul head from him the whole body grows fitted and held together through every Supporting ligament as each one does its part the body grows in love.

So I say this and insist in the Lord that you no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts and That's Ephesians 4 12 through 18 and a hearty.

Amen to that. But now let's turn to our main text for today in 1st John chapter 2.

1 John 2:1-6 and the Call to Avoid Sin

1st John chapter 2 verses 1 through 6 in 1st John chapter 2 chapter 2.

Starting in verse 1 we read my little children I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world and By this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments.

Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments as a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word in him truly the love of God is perfected by this. We may know that we are in him.

Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. So the last time I preached on 1st John I left off on chapter 2 verse 1. My little children. I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and In that sermon I stress that we must make one of our life's goals to not sin to avoid sin at all costs. In light of the new year.

This is something important that we can consider as well a new year's resolution resolution to seek to avoid sin in our lives and I also explained that Jesus Christ is our righteous sin-bearing periclete our divine mediating defense attorney and how the met the meta narrative of scripture is revealed in the gospel according to righteousnesses in The Bible which relate to God to man and to the God-man Jesus Christ the righteous.

Amen now let's continue on to verse 2. In Verse 2 we read he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Here we have before us yet another dense verse that John is jam-packing with truth and he's using the analogy of faith.

The analogia feed a To draw from his other writings and from other scriptures. In order to properly interpret this verse We must first understand and define the key terms and see how John is using them.

There's three of them namely propitiation our sins and.

The whole world.

These are the three. Once we see the parameters that John is using in this passage. We will grasp what he means. The verse clearly touches not only on the extent of the atonement. But also its power. Biblically to atone means to make amends.

To repair a wrong or right a wrong to remove the sin guilt of man thereby Reconciling him to God. It is to bring at one mint at one mint with God harmony with God. It's also important for us not to interpret scripture in a vacuum.

Meaning that we must learn to apply it in our own lives in our own day and to wrestle with the different views that the history of the church has passed down to us while exercising sound judgment and discernment.

Calvinism, Arminianism, and the Doctrines of Grace

Now the primary competing doctrines of the atonement are called limited or definite atonement which comes from what's known as Calvinism and Unlimited or universal atonement which comes from Arminianism.

Now, what is what are Calvinism and Arminianism? Calvinism is often misleadingly summarized in the acronym tulip like the flower tulip. Also known as the five points of Calvinism which represent doctrines about man and his relation to God.

The first is the T for total depravity or that man is radically depraved and evil in all his parts in all his being. Not utterly depraved not utterly depraved but totally affected by sin. Thus incapable of doing any good whatsoever and cannot even believe the gospel apart from God's regenerating grace.

The U is for unconditional election or that God sovereignly elects or chooses whom he will Save based solely on his own will not on. Not based on any condition he sees or foresees in man doing choosing or believing.

It's solely based on God's choice and prerogative. The L is for limited atonement, which will be our focus for today. That Christ died only for those whom God the Father chose to save and none else. The I is for irresistible grace that God's grace irresistibly regenerates the dead.

Sinner.

Monergistically or.

By the work of the Holy Spirit alone The P is for perseverance or preservation of the Saints that the elect of God will persevere to the end and remain saved because He who began a good work in you will finish it at the day of Jesus Christ.

That's Philippians 1 6. The tulip like I said is misleading however, because these five points were articulated by the historic canons of Dort in 1619 as a response to the man-centered remonstrances or protests of the Armenians Who believed in and emphasized human free will?

One of the central tenets of Calvinism Rather is that God his sovereign? Sovereign. That he is omnipotent in omnipotent control of all things and has predestined all things according to his good purpose.

So Calvinism is God-centered it is God-centered not man-centered. Arminianism by contrast Generally emphasizes the opposite of Calvinism. The original Armenians wrote the five articles of remonstrance which the canons of Dort responded to and These were the theological propositions advanced in 1610 by followers of Jacobus Arminian Arminius Who died in 1609 in disagreement with the teaching of John Calvin then current in the Dutch Reformed Church?

Those who supported them were called remonstrance note also. An important historical note is that Arminianism has changed through throughout the ages throughout time It has morphed. It used to be more logically consistent and therefore heretical and if you read the canons of Dort you will see that they condemn Arminianism as a heresy.

Which is why the Synod of Dort condemned it but but modern Arminianism has attempted to massage These heresies heresies out of its system by introducing inconsistencies. Now these are the five articles of remonstrance.

Article one is conditional election Which rejects the teaching that Christ that election into Christ is Unconditional and instead asserts that election is conditioned on faith in Christ and that God elects to salvation.

Those whom he knows beforehand will have faith in him. Article two is unlimited atonement as opposed to limited or definite atonement. It rejects the doctrine of limited atonement, which asserts that Christ only died for those God chooses to save and Instead asserts that Christ died for all.

But that salvation is limited to those who actually believe in Christ. Article 3 is total depravity which partially Affirms the total depravity of man that man is unable to do the will of God and cannot save himself apart from the grace of God, but it is a milder form of the Calvinist view because believers still have the free will to choose Christ.

Article 4 is prevenient grace which rejects the doctrine of irresistible grace Contending instead that mankind has the free will to resist the prevenient grace of God. Article 5 is the conditional preservation of the Saints and this ultimately rejects the doctrine of perseverance of the Saints Instead claiming that it depends on the believer to remain in Christ.

Ultimately and a true believer is capable of falling away from the faith and perishing eternally as an unbeliever.

Now.

Church historian Philip Schaaf explains that the Arminians agree with the Orthodox in holding the doctrine of like of a vicarious or expiatory atonement in opposition to the Sosinians, which was another heresy.

But they soften it down. So the Arminians soften it down and represent its direct effect to be a name. It's a direct effect to be to enable God consistently with his justice and veracity or truth to enter into a new covenant with men under which pardon is conveyed to all men on condition of repentance and faith.

The immediate effect of Christ's death was not the salvation but only the salvability of sinners by the removal of legal of the legal obstacles and Opening the door for pardon and reconciliation. They reject the doctrine of a limited atonement Calvin himself says.

Whereas Calvin he himself said that Christ died suficienter pro omnibus efficaciter pro electis and this Latin phrase Means that Christ's death was sufficient to save all men but efficacious only for the elect.

This I think this phrase is a little bit misleading however, because we must realize that even though God could have saved everyone if he wanted to he had no intention to and Did not save the reprobate the vessels of wrath according to Romans 9 and consequently did not die for them.

Now in order to resist any premature jumping to conclusions We must understand that first John chapter 2 verse 2 poses interpretive problems for both Calvinism. Although it is only superficial and our minion ism, which will prove to be fatal in that case.

Let's read it again. First John chapter 2 verse 2 reads. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Now.

Let's uh, I want to more carefully define the biblical view. Okay, the biblical view the Calvinist doctrine of definite atonement. Which is a better term than limited atonement because both sides in fact limit the atonement in some sense.

Okay.

Calvinist limit the extent or scope of the atonement because Christ died only for the elect. Yet he fully redeemed them. While our minions limit the power of the atonement because they say that Christ died for all men.

But only to make them savable. Not to fully redeem them. Now I'm going to read the canons of Dort's the second head on the death of Christ and the redemption of men thereby article 8 and I highly recommend recommend that you read the entire Statement.

For this was the Sovereign Council and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father. That the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of a son should extend to all the elect. For bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith.

Thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation. That is it was the will of God that Christ by the blood of the cross Whereby he confirmed a new covenant should effectually redeem out of every people tribe Nation and language all those and those only Who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given to him by the Father that he should confer upon them faith.

Which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit he purchased for them by his death. He accomplished them by his death. Should purge them from all sin both original and actual. Whether committed before or after believing and having faithfully preserved them even to the end.

Should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever. Amen. Now let's compare this to the Arminian understanding of the universal atonement cited from Philipschaft's creeds of Christendom.

Universal atonement or Christ the Savior of the world died for all men and for every man Indiscriminately and his grace is extended to all. His atoning sacrifice is in and of itself sufficient for the redemption of the whole world and is intended for is intended for all by God the Father.

Now I'm gonna comment here this is dangerous because it reveals God's that God's intentions and Efforts can be thwarted and overridden by men supposed free will. Very dangerous. But it's inherent sufficiency.

The I'm going to continue the quote, but it's inherent sufficiency. It does not necessarily imply its actual efficiency. So in other words in my words Christ did not actually redeem or propitiate God's wrath for unbelievers.

Even though he died for them. Thereby rendering the power of Christ atonement Useless unless the sinner himself decides to apply it to himself by faith. The grace of God may be resisted. I'm continuing the quote now the grace of God may be resisted and Only those who accepted by faith are actually saved.

He who has lost is lost by his own guilt and to add to that and because Christ did not actually accomplish their reject their redemption on the cross Due to the conditions that are also placed on the sinner which makes man the final determiner of his own eternal fate.

Now as I mentioned earlier in order to properly interpret verse 2 We must first understand and define the key terms and how John is using them. Propitiation our sins and the whole world.

Now.

Make no mistake. The word propitiation here is the Greek. He loves most and it means to make Satisfaction for to assuage to appease to pacify the wrath of God. So that God is no longer angry at you because it's just his justice has been fully satisfied by Christ's death on the cross.

What that is why Jesus said it is Finished. Amen. So this Greek word comes from the the the word he lost steady on He lost steady on which is the Greek word for propitiation and a lot of translations Will mistranslate this term into expiation or into sacrifice which does not fully render what the word means it means to Satisfy the wrath of God by a sacrifice.

This however is a big problem for the Arminian view of universal atonement because they believe That Christ did not fully accomplish redemption, but only made men Insavable and will not be saved unless they repent and believe.

By contrast the Calvinist view of definite atonement holds that Christ did fully accomplish the redemption and propitiation of the elect. Which is credited to them the moment God regenerates them and gives them saving faith.

So it's not ultimately dependent on man, but on God God alone. This is what the Latin Baptist Confession in chapter 11 of justification section 4 affirms. It says God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect.

And Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins and rise again because of their justification. Nevertheless, they are not justified personally until the Holy Spirit doth in due time. Actually apply Christ unto them.

So it's not actualized in time until you are regenerated and given the gift of faith and repentance. Some Arminians however Because of this verse claim that Jesus actually died for and satisfied the wrath of God propitiated the sins of everyone.

But if this were true Then two undesirable consequences follow when we apply the logical argument known as reductio ad absurdum. Which is a Latin phrase for demonstrating that the claim leads to absurdity and or contradiction.

So one consequence of claiming that Jesus propitiated the sins of absolutely everyone is that hell would therefore be empty because everyone would ultimately be saved and The Universalists would therefore be correct the Universalists who believe that Everyone will ultimately be saved be saved and nobody will go to hell this this.

This obviously contradicts the plain teaching of Scripture if you turn with me now to Romans 9.

Romans 9 and Unconditional Election

Romans 9 starting in verse 10. So in Romans 9.

Verse 10 God says and not only so but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man our forefather Isaac though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad in Order that God's purpose of election might continue or stand not because of works but because of him who calls.

She was told the older will serve the younger as it is written Jacob. I loved but Esau I hated. Now this passage contradicts the Arminian claim that God foresaw those who would believe and therefore saves them Because the verse above teaches the exact opposite.

It was nothing that they did That caused God to hate the one and love the other but it was solely God's purpose of election.

Amen.

So.

It instead teaches that the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election, that's what it means. Precisely what this verse passage teaches now continuing in verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part by no means for he says to Moses?

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it does not it depends not on human will or Exertion but on God on God alone. Who has mercy for the scripture says to Pharaoh for this very purpose?

I have raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then why does he still find fault for who can resist his will?

But who are you O man to answer back to God? Well, what is molded to say to its molder? Will the clay pot say to its Potter Why have you made me like this? Has the Potter know right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use.

What if God? Desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power.

Okay.

Has endured with much patience. Vessels of wrath prepared for destruction and. Again this contradicts the Arminian claim that God's intent is to save everyone. Because here God plainly says that God's intent Was to condemn some that he made as vessels of wrath beforehand prepared for destruction Before they had done anything good or evil.

In other words hell most certainly will not be empty. Amen. In order to make known. I'm going to continue the passage in order to make known the riches of his glory. For vessels of mercy which he has prepared beforehand for glory even us by whom he has called.

Not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles. Now these are very hard things to swallow for many people because of their theological biases. We have to be careful not to let our biases to override the plain teaching of Scripture.

Amen and.

Of course in the words of our own Savior Jesus Christ hell is Not going to be by any means empty. Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide in the way and the way is easy that leads to destruction and Those who enter by it are many.

For the gate is narrow and the weight is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few.

Few.

Matthew 7 13 through 14 and Again we can go on and on. Many are called but few are chosen.

Amen now.

We're not done yet. The other undesirable undesirable consequence is that if our minions do claim that only believers are saved. Ultimately, then that means that unbelievers would be punished twice for the same sins.

The.

First punishment being paid by Christ on the cross and the second punishment Being paid by them in eternal hellfire. This is known as double jeopardy or double payment or being charged for the same crime the same sin twice and And being punished for it twice.

John Owen of One of the most prominent Puritans of old Masterfully argues this point in his famous work the death of death and the death of Christ and I hardly commend all 850 pages of it for your edification.

It is a masterful work. He says if Christ made satisfaction to God's justice for someone's sins Then justice is satisfied for their sins or his satisfaction was rejected as insufficient. No other reason can be given for such a fruitless attempt and to say and to say it was and to say it was is blasphemy in the highest degree.

But God's justice is not satisfied for all the sins of all in every man. This is as obvious as the former. Some must undergo eternal punishment for their sins themselves so that the justice of God may be satisfied.

The justice of God was not satisfied by the punishment of Christ because they were not healed by his stripes. I Hope with Christians this does not need proving. Countless souls will undergo eternal punishment for their own sins now.

How can the justice of God require satisfaction for their sins if satisfaction? Was made for them in Christ already. The Lord will require the last penny of some as Matthew 5 26 makes clear. To that all we can say is amen.

Right, I Would also highly recommend John Gill's excellent work called the cause of God and truth And a very good DVD called amazing grace the history and theology of Calvinism very good things to have For reading and for reference because they cover all of these different passages and these teachings.

Note however This is important. Not all Calvinists agree with Owens double jeopardy argument. Okay, but I think their arguments are not sound you can examine them for yourself. But I think low Owens logic is consistent and biblical and therefore unassailable.

This is why our minions must limit the power of the atonement and Claim that even though Christ died so that everyone might be saved the individual cannot and will not be saved unless he first believes of his own free will.

So Christ did in fact propitiate and accomplish redemption by his death. Which brings us to the next key term.

Our Sins, the Whole World, and the Scope of 1 John 2:2

Our.

Sins our.

Sins. So I'm going to reread the passage. In verse 2 1st John chapter 2 verse 2 He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. The context of this letter reveals that John is referring to his local immediate audience.

Which may have been primarily?

Jews.

If you recall the opening verses of chapter 1 Let's turn there. In 1st John chapter 1 Verses 1 through 2 where we read That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life the life was made manifest and we have seen it and testified to it and Proclaimed to you the eternal life which was with the father and was made manifest to us.

We know that this refers to Christ in his Incarnation Christ in his gospel message proclaimed and Christ in his divinity all of those.

And.

Those who first heard and witnessed the fullness the fullness of the gospel preached by Christ were primarily Jews. This is important to bear in mind so we can understand what the whole world means in this verse.

Now the word world world or Cosmos and in the Greek cosmos cosmos Has several different meanings in the Bible, okay? We have to be very careful with this. We need to define the word carefully in light of both its immediate context and the context of the entire Bible as an inductive.

Whole.

Inductively. When you study something inductively you have to get what the word means in every single case it is used. To ensure that we have a proper understanding of the term.

But.

The term can mean different things depending on the immediate context of the passage. We cannot superficially define these terms as is made clear from John's later use of the word Cosmos. The same word the same phrase in fact in 1st John 5 19.

So if we turn there to 1st John 5 19 We will see the same phrase used there in a different sense. 1st John 5 19 says. We know that We are from God and the whole world. Cosmos Holos lies in the power of the evil one.

The whole world is.

Explicitly contrasted from we. We believers are from God, but the whole world Lies in the power of the evil one, so we cannot Abuse the text or impose our own definition of the term the whole world without properly looking at the context.

Armenians however tend to stretch the word world to mean every single human being for all time. But this once again creates the fatal flaws of either double jeopardy where sinners are punished twice for the same sins or Diminishing the power of Christ's propitiation so that it was not actually a full satisfaction of God's justice.

When in the passage it says Christ is the propitiation of our sins the full satisfaction for our sins. Now they will also appeal to 1st Timothy 4 10. 1st Timothy 4 10. Let's turn there now and see what it says.

In 1st Timothy 4 10, I don't know about you, but I'm really enjoying this. This is this is exciting stuff.

Very very exciting to be able to look at the the text and Compare. This is how we should study the Bible. I mean when when you read a book when you read or examine somebody's theological stance. You want to always compare it to Scripture and see how it holds up to all of Scripture.

So 1st Timothy 4 10 says. For to this end we toil and strive. Because God because we have our hope set on the Living God who is the Savior of all people especially of those who believe. So ouch, I mean did I did I completely blow it this time again or oh.

What does this verse mean now this verse however Looking at it carefully makes a clear distinction that God is especially the Savior of those who believe. Revealing that he is Savior in two different senses two different senses.

One general the other particular. It does not say That Jesus propitiated everyone's sins. Nor does it say that the atonement applies to unbelievers in one sense and to and to believe. Sorry that the Atonement applies to unbelievers in one sense and to believers in another.

That's not what it says. Let's get some help from Gordon Clark. Who digs a little deeper here? It is patent that especially indicates two kinds of salvation. This may seem strange to devout evangelicals in the 20th century.

But it was not so puzzling in Paul's day. In The Old Testament God is a Savior not only in the sense of everlasting Heavenly salvation, but also as a rescue from famine from pearl I'm sorry from peril from defeat and death and battle.

In Judges 614 God through Gideon saves the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites. 2nd Samuel 3 18 says that by the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines and out of the hand of all their enemies.

In the New Testament. Acts 27 20 and 31 described salvation from shipwreck. There are other ways to distinguish between salvation applicable to all sorts of men and a salvation restricted to the elect.

But it is plausible and certain that God is Savior in two different senses. The second being the salvation he provides for believers.

Okay.

Now.

The context. Let's go back to 1st John 2 and verse 2. The context of verse 2 Makes clear that by the whole world John is referring to all other believers from every tribe tongue people and nation outside of John's immediate local audience of primarily Jewish believers as John Owen says the whole world in this verse means in other places.

Men living in the world are denoted so by the whole world. In this can nothing be understood but men living throughout the whole world in all parts and regions thereof in opposition to the inhabitants of any one nation place or country as such as The Redeemed of Christ are said to be in Revelation 5 9.

Now Revelation 5 9 says. And they sang a new song saying worthy. Are you to take the scroll and to open its seals? For you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.