THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT
FOR WHOM DID CHRIST DIE?
On whose behalf did Christ offer Himself as a penal-substitutionary sacrifice?
For whom did He propitiate the wrath of His Father?
Whom did Christ reconcile to God and redeem out of slavery to sin and Satan?
JOHN OWEN S TRILEMMA Christ died for: 1. All the sins of all men 2. All the sins of some men 3. Some of the sins of all men
Did Christ actually make a substitutionary sacrifice for sins or didn t He? If He did, then it was not for all the world, for then all the world would be saved.
~Limited Atonement~ ~Definite Atonement~ ~Particular Redemption~ Christ died for the elect, and He paid a definite price for them that guaranteed their salvation.
WHO WOULD BELIEVE SUCH A THING?
The Reformed position since the Reformation Jonathan Edwards George Whitfield Martyn Lloyd-Jones B.B. Warfield R.C. Sproul Matthew Henry John Knox John Calvin John Owen John Gill John Bunyan J. Gresham Machen Al Mohler Wiliam Carey A.W. Pink James Montgomery Boice Horatio Bonar John Piper John MacArthur Robert Murray M'Cheyne Charles Hodge The Biblical writers of Scripture!
Reasons to Believe in a Definite Atonement
The Unity of the Trinity
THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY Did God intend, by sending His Son into the world, for that death to actually save people or just to hope it would save people?
THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY Arminian says: God intended the atonement to make salvation possible for all persons.
THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY Calvinist says: God intended the atonement to make salvation actual for the elect.
THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY Ephesians 1:4-5 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY Ephesians 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY Ephesians 1:6,11 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY The Son came to do the Father s will in dying for the elect. John 6:39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Isaiah 53:4-6 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Matthew 1:21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Luke 1:68-69 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES John 6:39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES John 10:11,14-15 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES John 11:51-52 Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES John 17:4-6, 9 I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Acts 20:28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Hebrews 9:28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES 2 Cor 5:18-19 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES 2 Cor 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree
THE DIED FOR PASSAGES Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
The Efficacious Passages
THE EFFICACIOUS PASSAGES Hebrews 9:11-12 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
THE EFFICACIOUS PASSAGES Romans 5:8-10 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
The High Priestly Work of Christ
THE HIGH PRIESTLY WORK OF CHRIST Leviticus 16
THE HIGH PRIESTLY WORK OF CHRIST Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
THE HIGH PRIESTLY WORK OF CHRIST Hebrews 9:15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
THE HIGH PRIESTLY WORK OF CHRIST Romans 8:30-34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
Blood of the Covenant is Only for Those Who Believe
BLOOD OF THE COVENANT IS ONLY FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE Luke 22:20-21 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table.
BLOOD OF THE COVENANT IS ONLY FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE Matthew 26:28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.
OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE OF DEFINITE ATONEMENT
1. Christ died for all texts. John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.
2 Cor 5:14-15 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Heb 2:9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Col 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
1 Tim 2:3-6 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men
1 Tim 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
2. Christ died for the world texts. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
2 Cor 5:19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
3. Christ died for those who will finally perish. 2 Pet 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.