Title: Understanding “All” and “World”
Text: Various
Date: April 16, 2017
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
We believe, according to the Scriptures, the doctrine of limited atonement, also known particular redemption. Christ laid down his life and redeemed a particular people, his elect.
God our Father elected a people unto salvation in Christ.
Ephesians 1: 1:…to the saints which are at Ephesus, to the faithful in Christ Jesus…3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6: To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Then scripture declares it was the elect who Christ redeemed.
Ephesians 1: 7: In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Christ declared that it was the elect for whom he died. Christ said,
John 10: 15:...I lay down my life for the sheep.
Isaiah 53:8:…For the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Christ accomplished the redemption of his people at the cross; he did not merely make it possible; he accomplished redemption.
Daniel 9: 24: Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people…to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Hebrews 9: 12:…by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Hebrews 9:26…now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 1: 3…when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Since Christ satisfied justice, no sin shall ever be laid to the charge of one for whom Christ died. Justice will not punish Christ then punish one for whom he died.
Romans 8: 33: Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34: Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Each elect child Christ redeemed must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ. Christ said,
John 10:16…them…I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
John 17: 2:…thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him
2 Thessalonians 2: 13: [this is why Paul said]…we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet, some teach Christ died for all men without exception. They say Christ merely made it possible for all to be saved, if you believe on Christ. They make salvation depend on the sinner’s will making Christ’s blood effectual for them. This doctrine dishonors Christ saying Christ failed to accomplish redemption and it exalts the sinner. Universal atonement is nowhere declared in the scriptures.
Proposition: Today, I want to look at a few of the scriptures men use to teach universal redemption and show you why they teach no such thing.
SCRIPTURES WITH THE WORD ‘ALL’
We will look at only a few scriptures with the word ‘all’. These are scriptures used by will-workers to teach the false doctrine of universal atonement.
Romans 5:18: Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
This passage compares and contrasts Adam and Christ as federal (legal) heads of the children who would be born of them.
By the disobedience of Adam, “all” whom Adam represented sinned in Adam and therefore died in Adam.
Romans 5: 12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:…18: Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation….19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners,…
Here “all” means everyone without exception because all are born of Adam—Adam's sin resulted in judgment and condemnation of all his offspring, which is everyone. In verse 19, the words ‘were made’ means Adam's sin did not make us susceptible to sin but by his fall all whom he represented were actually made sinners—that is everyone!
Even so, when Christ perfectly obeyed God's holy law and satisfied God's justice on the cross, “all God’s elect” were in Christ therefore the free gift of justification came upon “all” who are born of him.
Romans 5:18…even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19…so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
“Be made” means Christ's obedience did not render us savable if we will chose to believe on Christ. It means we “were made” righteous and sanctified entirely by Christ’s obedience.
So all who Adam represented died, all who Christ represented shall be made alive—
Romans 5: 21: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might [shall] grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Tim 2: 1: I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men [of every rank, class and race in society]; 2: For kings, and for all that are in authority; [least to greatest in authority] that we [elect believers who are ‘not many wise, not many noble, not many mighty’] may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3: For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4: Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. [all kinds men: Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male and female, rich and poor, educated and uneducated] 5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6: Who gave himself a ransom for all, [these different kinds of elect sinners] to be testified in due time. 7: Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. [Peter was ordained a preacher to the Jews, I am to the Gentiles]
Context shows the word “all” means persons of every rank of society: kings and those in authority, Jew and Gentile, male and female, rich and poor, bond and free, educated and uneducated. “God is no respecter of persons.” Christ Jesus “gave himself a ransom for all, [different kinds of sinners] to be testified in due time.
Revelations 5:9:…[Christ] wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by [his] blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Context shows it does not mean all without exception because Christ gave himself a ransom. When a person is taken captive for ransom when the payment is made it is made for individual and the ransom frees them. Christ’s people out of every rank of society were taken for ransom under the curse of the law. But Christ paid the ransom for each individual one of his people and freed us from the law. So “all” can only mean “all different classes and races of sinners”
Also, it says v4: [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. God is sovereign. God does his will at all times.
Daniel 4:35…he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
God accomplishes his will of having all his elect from every rank of society to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3: 9…[God] is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance….15: And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation;
The “usward” are God’s elect. They are not all without exception because they are those God is not willing shall perish. Any who God wills not to perish shall not perish. The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.
SCRIPTURES WITH THE WORD ‘WORLD’
Again, we will only take a few scriptures with the word ‘world’ which are commonly used to teach the false doctrine of universal atonement.
1 John 2: 1: My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Again, always pay attention to the context. “My little children…we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” This is written to “little children”, believers in Christ. When we sin, we have an advocate with our heavenly Father. An advocate makes intercession pleading the cause of one he represents; Christ is the Advocate, interceding with God for each one of his elect.
Romans 8: 33: Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34: Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. [as the Advocate of his elect]
Christ said, John 17: 9: I pray for them: [I intercede as an advocate for God’s elect] I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me;
Another word to pay attention to is this, “And he is the propitiation for our sins.” Propitiation means an individual’s sins are atoned for and forgiven, justified from all sin, which is not true of every man and woman in the world. Christ is a propitiation through faith in his blood and not everyone in the world is a believer.
So when he says "not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” he does not mean Christ made atonement for the whole world; if so then all must be saved or else God is not righteous—which was the whole point of Christ’s death, to declare the righteousness of God. What does he mean? John was an elect Jew. Those he ministered to were elect Jews. But God will also use this epistle to speak to us and to his elect among the Gentiles throughout all time. So he says Christ is the Advocate and Propitiation, not for his elect-believing-Jews only but also for his elect-believing-Gentiles wherever we are scattered in the whole world.
It is for this same reason that Christ told Nicodemus the Jew, that God loved some among the Gentile world also.
John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God loves his elect in Christ alone and saves us, else why speak of the love of God?—
Romans 8: 35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...39: [nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When God speaks of those he loves in his word, God declares that he sent his Son to make atonement for us and give us life. In other words, those God loves God saves in Christ.
1 John 4: 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, [God’s elect] because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might [shall] live through him.10: Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son, the propitiation [atonement] for our sins.
But teachers of universal atonement use John 3:16 to preach “whosoever will.” But Christ is declaring why we must be born again and drawn to Christ irresistibly, why we preach Christ whom we do know, why Christ had to be lifted up, “For God [after this manner] loved the world, that that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever [Jew or Gentile] believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
But if we read on in John 3, Christ declared the condemnation is that sinners love darkness rather than light and will not come to Christ the light because their deeds shall be reproved. This is why Christ said the sinner must be drawn by God when he said “no man can come to [Christ] except the Father draw him.” (Jn 6: 44) By the new birth, “we are made willing in the day of Christ’s power”, and then we believe on Christ. (Ps 110: 3)
A FEW REMINDERS
Let me end with a couple helpful reminders.
First, when reading scripture never take for granted the words “all” and “world” mean everyone without exception; sometimes it does, sometimes not. Here is an example where it does not.
Luke 2:1: And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. [It means those all over Rome were taxed.]
Secondly, always read the first verses of an epistle to see it is written to believers, God’s elect.
Romans 1: 7: To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints
1 Corinthians 1: 2: Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, [who is] both theirs and ours:
Ephesians is to the elect chosen by God before the foundation of the world. Then we know the words “we” and “us’ and “all” and “world” speaks of God’s elect.
Most importantly, true discernment determines the meaning by what gives the triune God in Christ all the glory and the sinner none?
If God the Father sent his Son to die only to give sinners a chance to exercise their will and be saved, it disgraces the wisdom of God and exalts sinners. But God is glorified when we declare the truth of the scripture that God elect whom he would and God shall save them in Christ.
Ephesians 1: 11: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12: That we should be to the praise of [God the Father’s] glory, who first trusted in Christ.
If Christ died for all men without exception then he died for some already in hell at the time and for those who perish in their sins. This makes Christ a failure and his death vanity. But Christ redeemed his people and shall lose none. This gives Christ all the glory and us none.
Matthew 1: 21…thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
If the Holy Spirit is unable to bring a sinner to Christ irresistibly then it dishonors God the Holy Spirit and calls Christ a liar. But Christ said
John 16: 8: And when he is come, he will reprove [convince] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 13…he will guide you into all truth:…he will shew you things to come. 14: He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
The message that gives God all glory and sinners none is: “Salvation is of the Lord.” God the Father chose who he would save. The Son redeemed us. The Spirit quickens and keeps us. Christ shall lose none but present all his elect faultless to God his Father. This is the gospel. It gives Christ all the glory and the sinner none!
Amen!