WWUTT 1835 Q&A Christmas Ghost Stories, Singing Imprecatory Psalms, What is Provisionism

What does Christmas have to do with ghost stories? How can we sing imprecatory psalms when Jesus told us to love our enemies? And is provisionism biblical? The answers to these questions when we Understand the Text.

This is When we Understand the Text, a daily study in the word of Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. Find all our videos and other ministry resources at www .utt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky.

Not with me this week. She's still sick. Still has that terrible cough. Pray for her, folks. Pray for my wife. I want to have her back on the broadcast with me, especially considering what we've got coming up for the next three weeks of this Friday Q &A.

Next week is December 23rd, the Friday right before Christmas. That's when we're going to do our Christmas episode. I've already got a few Christmas-related questions I'm going to respond to, but I could use a few more if you want to send them in.

The email address is whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. The week after that, last Friday of the year, December 30th. And that's when we're going to do our year in review. As we typically do on this broadcast, we look back over the biggest Christian stories for the year and just kind of remember those things that happened in 22.

Now the year won't really be over yet. There's still one more day. December 31st will not have happened yet. But I'm going to assume the biggest things that would have happened for the year have already taken place.

And yeah, we'll just wrap that up a day early. How about that? Then the next week, first Friday of 23, that'll be on January the 6th. And we're going to count down the 10 biggest what videos for 2022.

Now I'm going to do a compilation video anyway, and it will be on the what channel? YouTube dot com slash W .W .U .T .T. If you want to subscribe, I'm going to post the compilation there. But what you'll get on the broadcast will be commentary.

We'll talk about what went into making those videos, the kind of responses we got afterward. If I would have changed anything about the videos, I'm looking forward to these next three weeks. And I hope you are, too.

Mark them on your calendars, get those episodes downloaded and pray for Becky that she'll be with me, God willing, for all three of those coming podcasts. And as always, we do New Testament study on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Old Testament study on Thursday before the Q &A on Friday.

The Lord's Word and the Coming Holiday Schedule

OK, I've got questions to respond to a poll I want to mention to you. But before getting to that, let's open the word of the Lord. I'm going to read this passage and I'm going to come back to it again at the end of the broadcast as well.

But let's hear the word of Christ from First Thessalonians chapter one beginning in verse two. This was spoken through the Apostle Paul to the church in Thessalonica. Hear the word of the Lord. We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers beloved by God, your election.

For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full assurance, just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

What does that passage have to do with our episode today? Well, you got to stay tuned. Let me begin with this poll. This was a poll question that was asked by Fred Butler on Twitter. And he said, important poll, does your family Christmas traditions involve telling scary ghost stories?

Yes, for real. That was his poll question. And that poll is still going on. It hasn't finished up at the time that I'm recording this, but he's already had more than a hundred respondents. And in my experience in doing polls, not much changes after that.

You might adjust a few percentage points there, but you pretty much get an idea of what the results are going to be after about a hundred folks. Here's what he's got so far. How many people now, if Becky were here, I would look at her and I would say, give me a guess, babe.

How many people out of a hundred do you think tell scary stories at Christmas as part of their Christmas traditions? And she, being as smart as she is, would probably say three out of a hundred. And I would say, you're right.

That's exactly right. According to Fred's poll, three percent tell scary stories around the Christmas tree. I don't know, around the Christmas tree. They tell scary stories at Christmas as part of their Christmas tradition.

Ninety seven percent said no. Three percent said yes. And Fred replied, apparently it was common practice to tell scary ghost stories. I'm sure what will address this for the Gabe and Babe show tomorrow?

It just so happens, Fred, I do know something about this. This was popularized by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. That's kind of when it reached its apex with the publication of A Christmas Carol in the 19th century.

But this was going on for centuries even before that. December, especially around the winter solstice, which was December 21st, was largely considered to be a season of death because the pagans thought of the sun dying on December 21st.

And then it came back to life again. Days started getting longer. There was more light. So since there was death associated with winter and with the winter solstice, then it became common to tell ghost stories at this time of year.

And that just got pulled into some families Christmas traditions. Now, it became most popular after the publication of A Christmas Carol. But Dickens wasn't doing anything that wasn't already commonplace.

It just got popular with A Christmas Carol. The story of Ebenezer Scrooge being a wretched old man that he was. And then he's visited on Christmas Eve by the spirit of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. And then you've got the three spirits of Christmas past, Christmas present, and the Christmas yet to come.

And because of what is shown to him, the direction that his life is going, he is convicted of heart, wakes up on Christmas Day, and becomes a loving, sacrificial, charitable old man, unlike the person that he was before.

That's not the only story that Dickens wrote like that. There were a couple of other stories that he did, one called The Chimes and another called The Haunted Man, that were just like that, a story about an old man who was visited by ghosts, and then he changed his ways.

And those two stories also took place at Christmastime. In The Seven Poor Travelers, Dickens said Christmas Eve is the witching time for storytelling. He liked telling ghost stories at Christmas. He even wrote some in the magazine that he was publishing, and when it came around to Christmas, he would have ghost stories in his magazine.

In Henry James' famous novella The Turn of the Screw, the story involves a group of men telling ghost stories around a fire on Christmas Eve. There was a book in the early 1900s that was called The Book of Indoor and Outdoor Games, and some of those indoor games that you could do included telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve.

Now, the commercialization of Halloween is really what moved ghost stories from December to October, and that's probably not an exact time when that happened. Halloween didn't really start taking off right away.

It didn't become what we know Halloween to be until about the middle part of the 20th century, the mid -1900s, because when the celebration of All Souls Day first came to the U .S., it was a holiday that was only celebrated among Irish and Scottish immigrants.

Halloween parties didn't become a regular thing until about the 1920s and 30s, and even then it was more like April Fool's Day. It was a time of pranks and tricks, which is where trick-or-treat comes from, rather than ghosts and goblins, though wearing masks have always been a part of Halloween.

After all, you didn't want Mrs. Shufflebine down the street to recognize you after you just toilet-papered her trees, so people would wear masks when they did their tricks or treats. The pranks turned into trick-or-treating by the 1940s, but the early treats were like fruit.

Have you ever gone to somebody's house at Halloween and they gave you fruit? Yeah, that has a long history, too. There wasn't individually wrapped candies at the time, so when you did trick-or-treating door-to-door, you would get popcorn, nuts, and fruit, because candy was all open.

If you went to the candy store, there were the bins with the candies in them, but they weren't individually wrapped, so the candy probably wasn't clean. You didn't want to just have hands dipping into these bowls, so people weren't giving out candy at Halloween until manufactured individually wrapped candy, which became a regular thing in the 60s and 70s.

Now, kids have been able to buy manufactured Halloween costumes, like store-bought costumes. That's been going on for like a hundred years. But guess where adults dressing in costumes came from? Believe it or not, you can thank the gay pride movement for that.

I read about this years ago in an article in Slate Magazine. Adult costumes began with men wearing drag and women dressing up in skimpy nurse and French maid and devil costumes. We even know exactly the year when this started.

It was in 1973 in New York City's Greenwich Village, which was known as a gay district. Now, because this is a family podcast, I won't go into further detail, but you know now some of the scandalous origins of Halloween.

If it wasn't already problematic enough, now you're even more reluctant to let your kids celebrate, right? It's not just about the fascination with specters and ghosts and death that has all these demonic ties.

There's also, yeah, some sexual immorality tied in with Halloween. All that to say that ghost stories used to be associated with Christmas. And I'm just fine that, you know, the most ghost stories you're going to hear at Christmastime is a retelling of the Christmas Carol.

Now, whether or not you choose to celebrate Halloween or Christmas, that's up to you. And I say celebrate Halloween. I use that term very loosely. We've never celebrated Halloween. We've not done anything more than let the kids dress up as their favorite characters, which they do any day of the year anyway.

And then grab some buckets. We'll go door to door and get some free candy. That's not celebrating anything. That's just getting free candy. But there's no requirement for any Christian to celebrate Christmas.

That's up to you. Just don't quarrel over opinions. Romans 14, 4 through 6 says, Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person judges one day above another. Another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards the day regards it for the Lord. And he who eats, eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God.

And he who does not eat, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. I love Christmastime. I love everything that's wrapped up in the holiday. And there's nothing wrong with having a time that we remember and celebrate the incarnation of our Lord.

I really don't think anybody's getting to heaven and standing before God and he's going to say, Well done, good and faithful servant. But really, what was up with Christmas? Why were you celebrating that?

The Lord is not going to say that to us. But we remember the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ every day of the year. Christmas is a great time to celebrate that. But of course, we celebrate it all the time.

The most important day for the Christian is Sunday. That's the Lord's Day, when we gather together to remember everything about Christ and preach his word and understand how the whole Bible points to Jesus and how he fulfilled all the law and the prophets, how he died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead.

And all who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. And we have the promise of him coming back to judge the living and the dead. All who believe in him will be saved. It's neat to consider how what used to be a pagan festival, a time of paganism around December 21st has turned into a festival of lights.

When Jesus entered the world, it's no longer festival of darkness. It's a festival of lights when we celebrate that the light has come. And so I love doing that at Christmastime. But I love Sunday the most gathering together with the saints, with the Church of God to worship our Lord.

Singing Imprecatory Psalms in Light of Loving Your Enemies

Speaking of worship, this next question here, this comes from Daniel. He says, Dear Pastor Gabe, greetings from Mexico. I really loved your article on your favorite worship songs for 2022, but you never finished it.

I was anxiously awaiting part two. And unless I missed something, I don't think you ever posted it. Are you planning on doing the second part? And if so, when can we expect it? Thank you for the reminder, Daniel.

I just it just got out of my mind. I don't know why I never came back to writing the second part. I have most of the second part written. In fact, I just never finished it. So I'm going to make that a point this next week to finish part two.

And I'll post my next five favorite praise and worship songs for 2022. At least they're the favorite songs that I chose from the CCLI top 100. Some of the songs are classic. I mentioned Victory in Jesus, and I can't remember if there was.

I know there's another classic in the next set, the next half of the list. So I'll wait until that comes out. I'll try to finish it this week, Daniel. I'm also going to include my runners up like songs that didn't make the list, but are still songs that I love and enjoy and sing to this day.

You can find the blog at PastorGabe .com. This next question comes from Savannah. Hello, Gabe and babe. Merry almost Christmas. I hope this season has been filled with much rejoicing over our Savior and the gifts that he has given for your family.

I'm wondering about how imprecatory psalms should be used. We just started visiting a reform church where we will sing those imprecatory psalms, such as Psalm 3, and there is not any teaching or context given about how we should be worshiping with those songs in our spirit and mind, such as who is the wicked, what God has done for wicked people such as me, and that we should also pray for salvation and not just judgment.

I don't feel quite right singing them so often. They seem very serious prayers to pray and that it is unwise to do so without much thought or purpose behind them. Could you help me understand how these ought to be prayed or sung in light of Luke 6, 27 to 36?

Should we always view these psalms in light of the gospel slash new covenant? Thank you. Savannah, this is a question that we've not received like this before. Every few months or so, Becky and I will get a question about is it okay for us to pray the imprecatory psalms, but I think this is the first time I've answered about singing the imprecatory psalms.

I've not answered the question in that way before. Now, first of all, an imprecation is a curse. So when we're talking about imprecatory psalms, we're talking about those psalms that are like, Lord, break the teeth of the wicked, destroy my enemies.

I hate those who hate you. You know, those are the kinds of psalms that we would categorize as imprecatory. Jesus quoted from the imprecatory psalms when he cleansed the temple in John 2, that statement zeal for your house will consume me.

That comes from an imprecatory psalm. And in John 15, he said in verse 23, he who hates me hates my father. Also, if I had not done among them the works, which no one else did, they would not have sin.

But now they have both seen and hated me and my father as well. But this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their law. They hated me without cause. And Jesus is quoting from an imprecatory psalm.

I've preached through imprecations before. I have used imprecatory psalms even in my call to worship in church. There's nothing wrong with that. It's the word of God. And they're good reminders for us that God is going to have vengeance on his enemies so that those who are opposed to God would tremble with fear.

They would turn from their sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And likewise, that we would be reminded not to fall into sin. There has been those reminders as we've been going through the book of Hebrews on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday about how those who will continue in disobedience will even fall into unbelief and they will not receive the reward that is promised for all those who endure to the end.

Those constant reminders that come up in the book of Hebrews. We need to be reminded of that, too, that we would not become weak and potentially fall away as we just read in Hebrews chapter six. We have sung imprecatory psalms here in our church.

And that's what Savannah is asking about. How do we prepare our hearts for that? Is it right for us to sing the imprecatory psalms? Well, the Psalter is the book of Psalms. It's like our biblical hymn book.

It's in the Bible. So it is good for us to sing. This can't even be worship unto God because we're reminded that he will have vengeance on his enemies and he will deliver his saints. A lot of that in the in the imprecatory psalms also talks about God delivering those who are oppressed, not just punishing those who are his enemies, but delivering those who desire to do righteously.

Consider Psalm three, which Savannah referenced. Oh, Yahweh, how my adversaries have become many. Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah.

But you, oh, Yahweh, are a shield about me, my glory and the one who lifts my head. I was calling to Yahweh with my voice and he answered me from his holy mountain. Selah. I lay down and slept. I awoke for Yahweh sustains me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who all around have set themselves against me. Now, Psalm three is not really considered one of the imprecatory psalms. There's really 14 of them. Psalms 5, 10, 17, 35, 58, 59, 69, 7, 79, 83, 109, 129, 137 and 140.

There you go. I cheated. I had to look that up. But there's your imprecatory psalms. Those are the ones that we consider to be imprecatory. I've even preached on a few of those. I did Psalm five a year ago.

It was in December a year ago that I preached on Psalm five. I know what a lovely time to preach an imprecatory song. It was the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's. So how do we think of those things?

How do we worship with that in mind in light of, as Savannah mentioned, what is said to us in Luke six? Jesus said, beginning in verse 27, I say to you who hear love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.

Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who disparage you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also. And whoever takes away your garment, do not withhold your tunic from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you.

And whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back and treat others the same way you want them to treat you. And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

But love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return. And your reward will be great. And you will be sons of the Most High. For he himself is kind to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

So, indeed, we need to take those things in mind. But that doesn't mean that we can't pray in Precatory prayers. You can pray for the justice of God to be done in this earth. And, you know, consider when you read the Precatory Psalms, no one is explicitly mentioned there.

It's very general about how the Lord will destroy his enemies, but he will deliver his saints. And so you ask that justice would be done and that we would be delivered. Every time you pray, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

You probably don't think about this, but you're praying something in Precatory. Because when Jesus returns, we'll be saved from this earth, from his judgment into heaven to dwell with him forever. But his judgment, he pours out on the wicked.

His wrath will consume them and they will perish forever in hell. That's what will happen on that day that Christ returns. So when you pray, Lord Jesus, come quickly, you're probably just thinking about being delivered.

But understand that that day is a day of judgment for those who do not know Christ. You are actually praying something in Precatory as well. We do desire the justice of God to be done in this earth. But we should also have hearts of compassion, just as God showed toward us and desire that the wicked would not perish, but that they would turn from their sin and be saved.

I hope I've given you some things to think about. Savannah, bring this up with your pastor. Ask this of your worship leaders at your church. How should we think about these things? They probably have not considered preparing the hearts of the church to worship with this.

And so just asking the question kind of moves them in that direction and make them realize, yeah, let's have some lessons on this that we can understand the right balance between loving your enemies, but also praying that God's justice would be poured out on his enemies.

Where Gabe Went to Seminary and How He Learned to Preach

This next question comes from Adam, who says, Hi, I've enjoyed a number of what videos, along with a debate you did with Layton Flowers. Yeah, that was back in January. I never actually did a follow up to that debate.

I was planning on a couple of interviews, and I was just kind of going to let the interviews be like our follow up to the debate. One interview that I did fell through. It just we weren't ever able to make it work.

Another one I did, we talked for like an hour, but due to technical difficulties, we lost that entire conversation. It was a good conversation. You just didn't get to hear it. So anyway, I do want to do like a video follow up.

Maybe I'll do it in January on the one year anniversary of that debate to kind of summarize points that I made and what I wish I could have done better. Those kinds of things. It was my first debate in 20 years.

I hadn't debated in a long time. So I appreciate you watching, and I'm glad you enjoyed it and were able to learn from it as well. Adam goes on to say, It always inspires me when I see someone ably handling biblical teachings and responding to critics.

This always makes me curious about the speaker's education, but I can't find any references to yours online. Just a mild curiosity. You don't have to respond. I just assume you've gone to college and seminary and wanted to know where it was and which degrees you've acquired.

If it's OK to ask. Sure. Yeah, I don't have a problem responding to that. I've never attended seminary, never taken a Bible class in my life, not even not for college credit. Anyway, I have sat through numerous classes and seminars hours upon hours, but I've never actually attended seminary.

Now, I did go to college. I went to Juco for the first two and a half years, and then I went to a four year college. Didn't really get a substantial degree. I finished with like an arts degree, but yeah, not in not in anything theological.

Now, my background is I've grown up in ministry. I grew up in Christian radio. Had my own radio show from the age of seven. I retired from that at the age of twenty nine and became a pastor. So I was in Christian radio for twenty two years.

And when I was growing up, I was listening to programs from guys like Adrian Rogers and Woodrow Kroll and J. Vernon McGee. And there was even some R .C. Sproul and John MacArthur in there. There was Family Life Today with Dennis Rainey.

There was Focus on the Family with Dr. James Dobson. These guys were my teachers growing up while my friends were flipping pizzas or bagging groceries. I was listening to Bible teaching all day long. Even when I would get home, my parents had routines with us kids where we knew a certain show was coming on the radio at a particular time, and we were supposed to make that a quiet time sitting around the radio, listening to the Bible teaching.

It was even outside of work that I was listening to this. My dad taught me to read the Bible. When I first learned to read, it was the Bible that I read. And from age five to age seven in those two years, I had read through the entire Bible.

Then my dad took me through the Bible again and started showing me how to use Scripture to interpret Scripture. And so when I would be in Genesis again and that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, my dad would say, where else in the New Testament did you see that?

Several references in the New Testament. So this was my education coming up. This was this was an unusual upbringing, but I was preaching by the age of 17. And in the first 10 years of preaching, by the time I was about 27 years old, I had been in over 100 churches around western Kansas, eastern Colorado, the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.

I haven't always been an expository preacher, as I've joked about before. Some of those early sermons I wish I could go back and do again. I came to love expository preaching, listening to Votie Bauckham, and I found Votie Bauckham through Family Life Today.

So listening to Votie, that was where I came to recognize this is how preaching should be done. Before that, it was mostly topical. I mean, my dad taught me to understand passages in context and to preach verse for verse.

But because I was going to so many different churches every Sunday, I had a lot of topical sermons or just, you know, preaching on a particular topic, not necessarily a specific book or passage. And so and so it took me a while to get into understanding the the need, the importance of expository preaching so that even when I was doing pulpit supply, my sermons would be expository.

These are things that I'm still learning to do. As many sermons as I've preached, and it's been hundreds of sermons as a pastor, I've preached over 500. But if you add in what I did as an itinerant preacher, it was, you know, 100 more than that.

But I still am desiring to know God's word better and how to communicate it better. And any good pastor worth his salt will tell you the same thing. When he finished seminary, that wasn't the end of his education.

He just got the basic tools that he needed. But we continue to grow in a knowledge of God's word and some of those deep theological concepts that we can glean from the word as well. I appreciate your question, Adam, and God bless you in your study and your growth of the word.

Read it every day. Read it over and over again. Memorize scripture. Let it get into your heart. Listen to good sermons. Read some good theology books. As Charles Spurgeon said, visit many good books, but live in the Bible.

And of course, don't just be a hearer of the word. Do what it says, as we're instructed in James chapter one. This next question also has something to do with latent flowers. This question is from Melissa, who sent this via a Facebook chat message.

Hi, Pastor Gabe and Becky. I really enjoy listening to your podcast, and I am wondering if you could help clarify some questionable theology I have been hearing about in recent months. It has to do with latent flowers and the provisionist movement.

Did Jesus die on the cross for everyone? I come from the doctrines of grace background and would love if you have any insight into this movement. Thanks again for all that you do in bringing glory to our Lord.

Provisionism, Limited Atonement, and Christ's Death for the Elect

Well, I appreciate that, Melissa. Let me play for you the video that I did responding to latent flowers ministry. Soteriology 101. And then I'll talk a little bit more about the doctrines of grace that you and I believe.

This doctrine of latent is called provisionism and some biblical responses to this. First, here's the video that I did. Dr. Leighton Flowers, professor at Trinity Seminary and son of the guy who started see you at the pole, calls his ministry Soteriology 101.

Soteriology is the study of salvation, and 101 implies that these are salvation basics. But Flowers' emphasis is less on soteriology and more on being anti-Calvinist. Look at the logo. Is Calvinism correct?

In the statement of faith on his website, the entire preamble is about disavowing Calvinism. Soteriology isn't mentioned until the fourth paragraph. Article 1 is on the gospel, and it's rather vague. Yes, the gospel is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

But salvation how? John 3, 16, whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. Come on, this is Soteriology 101. Article 1 also says we deny that only a select few are capable of responding to the gospel.

Well, that's not even Calvinism, which teaches what the Bible says. That no one is capable of coming to Jesus unless it is granted him by the Father. John 6, 65. In Article 2, the statement says that each person's sin alone brings the wrath of a holy God.

But that's not what the Bible says. Romans 5, 12 says sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Flowers' entire stick is to be anti-Calvinist, which he calls Soteriology 101.

But at the end of the day, Flowers understands neither Calvinism nor the basic biblical doctrines of salvation. Romans 8, 30 says that those whom God predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified, he also glorified. That's Soteriology 101 when we understand the text. So in her message, Savannah asked, did Jesus die on the cross for everyone? Well, it depends on what you mean by for everyone.

Is the offering of what Jesus did on the cross to be made for everyone? Yes. The Apostle Paul said in Acts 17, 30 when preaching at the Areopagus, the times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

And he pointed them to the one God raised from the dead. Jesus told his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. There is no one from whom we should withhold the message of the gospel. God's free gift of grace in his son so that everyone who believes in Jesus will be forgiven their sins and have eternal life.

Go and tell the world. Or as we say, as we sing at this time of year, go tell it on the mountain. But that said, did Jesus die on the cross for everyone in the sense that his atoning work is for everyone?

And the answer to that is no, only those who believe will be saved. These who believe are God's elect whom he had chosen from before the foundation of the world. Romans 8, 30, as I mentioned there at the end of the video, those whom he predestined, he also called.

Those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. That is a basic understanding in the study of the doctrine of salvation. We believe and are saved because we were predestined.

In the doctrines of grace, which Melissa, you made reference to the doctrine that summarizes this biblical teaching is called limited atonement, though R .C. Sproul and Charles Spurgeon and myself have preferred to call it particular atonement or particular redemption.

If Jesus died only for his elect, then his atoning sacrifice perfectly accomplished its intended purpose. Every person for whom Jesus died will be in heaven. Not one drop of his blood was wasted. So what are some passages that we use to defend the doctrine of limited atonement?

How about a popular verse that we use around Christmas? Matthew 1, 21, she will bear a son and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 20, 28, the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many, not everyone, but for many.

Matthew 22, 14, many are called, but few are chosen. John 10, 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Verse 15, I lay my life down for the sheep going on to verses 26 to 30.

You do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish ever. And no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one. That's also a passage we use in defense of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.

By the way, John 17, 9, Jesus says, I am praying on their behalf, meaning his disciples. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but of those whom you have given me, for they are yours talking to the father.