Defending the Doctrines of Grace and God's Sovereignty Part 4
Limited Atonement
Limited Atonement is the doctrine that states that Jesus died, not for every person that ever lived or will live, but for the elect of God. This doctrine, probably above all others, garners the most animosity. In fact, this is where Calvinists and Amyraldians, part ways. While Amyradianism confirms the other four points of TULIP, they deny Limited Atonement, sometimes referred to as Particular Redemption. Let's look at a few verses that support Limited Atonement, and then move on to objections.
John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." We see here that the Father is giving those whom are to be saved, to Christ, and that those whom Christ receives, He will not cast out. Is the Father drawing all men at all times to Jesus? If He is, then He is failing miserably as we see millions of people reject Him. Or is it more likely (and maintains God's sovereignty and power) that He is drawing only those whom He has chosen, His elect, to Christ? Also note, that in verse 39, Jesus says that of all the Father gives to Him, He will lose none. However if one were to take an Arminian view, then Jesus would lose some, as not all are saved by Jesus, yet they would claim that all are being drawn by the Father. This creates a rift in the Godhead, as it means Jesus is unable to do the will of the Father.
John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day." Continuing His thought and expanding it a bit, Jesus here tells us first, that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws them, and that those same someone's are to be raised up, or saved, at judgement. Are all people going to be saved? Since the Biblical answer is a resounding NO then that must mean that the Father is only drawing a particular people to the Son.
John 10:15: "even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.". Immediately what springs to mind is the idea of Christ's sheep. Who are they? Are they all of humanity? Obviously not, or a delineation would not be made where Jesus says "my sheep know my voice", denoting that those who are not His sheep, do not know His voice. As we read in Ephesians 1:4, the sheep are the ones God predestined before the foundation of the world. Obviously God did not predestine all people to salvation, so the sheep must be a limited number, or a particular people.
Isaiah 53:8 "By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?" Here we have Isaiah speaking of the future Jesus, and that He would take the penalty of His people. This being the case, then the number of people whom Christ would atone for would be limited to a certain people. Unless one wishes to read universalism into the text, which is the only other logical direction one can go.
Isaiah 53:11-12 "As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors." Again, we see here a limiting of the ones that Jesus will justify. If His atonement were universal, we would see here the word all. Now, since this mentions justification, let's move to another text, Romans 8:28-34.
Romans 8:28-34 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 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." Now, let's begin with a simple logical following of what the golden chain (verses 28-30) is telling us. Firstly, it says "Those He foreknew". This is not the idea that God looked down the corridors of time, and saw who would come to Him, because as the next part states, the ones He foreknew, He foreknew because He'd predestined them! It then moves on to say that those who are predestined, are the one's He called. These are the ones whose heart of stone has been replaced with a heart of flesh. These same ones whom are called are also justified (made right with God) and then glorified, or the idea of the glory in our salvation. Note there is no break here. From the first, those foreknown, will be the ones glorified. There are no breaks, no walls, no stops. It is a continuous chain.
Now, you may ask, why bring this up? Good question, you see the beginning states those whom God foreknew. This denotes the idea that God had a special group of people whom He had planned for salvation. The idea of universal atonement cannot be wedged into the text. There are no breaks or changes of direction where one could say that those who are foreknown, are not the same as those who will be glorified.
I could've stopped at verse 30, but I added through verse 34 for a reason. Note in verse 34 that if states that Jesus intercedes for "us". Who is the us? Let's follow the pronouns. In verse 31, Paul uses the word "us" to denote those who were justified at the end of the chain. The "us" meaning Christians. In verse 32 Paul says "for us all", where he continues discussing the same us from the previous verse, so we're still talking about Christians. In verse 33 Paul leaves absolutely no doubt, when he calls those same "us", God's elect. And finally, in verse 34, we see that Jesus intercedes for those elect. There is again, no break, no change of view, and no sidetracking from verse 28 through verse 34. It is undeniable that those whom God foreknew, were His elect, who Jesus intercedes for and God will glorify. Paul's words are the final nail in the coffin for unlimited atonement. That being said however, many will try to deny such a clear biblical teaching in defense of the autonomous free will of man, and will subjugate God's will to their own. Let's take a look at some of these arguments.
We see in this first slide the fundamental misrepresentation of what the doctrine of Limited Atonement is. There is a rather raggedy strawman put up in its place, but it misses the mark by a country mile. The only way to reach such a conclusion is to assume one's view of universal atonement, without having first proven such. This is the begging the question fallacy. It also ignores the fact that under their view, God's sovereignty is thwarted by man's free will, and therefore God fails. Limited Atonement however, states that those whom God elected (see my last article on Unconditional Election) are saved perfectly. That God is in no way a failure, or eternally frustrated, and that there is no tension in the Godhead. Instead, we give and protect all the honor and glory due to God, as He has perfectly accomplished His plan in salvation of those whom the Son intercedes for. In the beginning of the next paragraph, we see a major flaw in their argument. It states that only some of the sins of the whole world. Aside from once again begging the question, it also creates another strawman. Jesus atoned for all the sins of the elect, not just some. To put in in such terms is what makes it seem a failure, so if the only way to make it a failure, is to make a strawman out of it, then you've defacto proven the original case correct. I don't expect of CAHCT friend to see that however. You'll note they put "election" in quotes, as though that isn't exactly what the text says. I'll refer you back to earlier in Romans 8. The next sentence is a block of gibberish, but if I'm piecing it together correctly, they are claiming that this who are elect have some kind of birthright to their election. If this is what they believe, then they really have no concept of Unconditional Election or Limited Atonement. As I stated in my last article, UC literally means that we have no reason in ourselves as to why God would choose us, and that it is entirely of His choosing. To make the claim it is a "birthright" is yet another strawman. I hope no one is smoking while reading this, the flammability of this slides due to all the strawmen could cause a forest fire!
In our final slide (I could go on with any number of images from our friends, but they all boil down to similar arguments) we see an appeal to Sola Scriptura. I find that interesting, as our friend here has abandoned Sola Scriptura, in favor of their tradition, which teaches unlimited atonement. Note above the solid exegesis and explaining of the texts of Scripture in which we find the doctrine of limited atonement. Also note that our friend has made a great number of strawmen and unproven assertions, citing no verses, and exegeteing no passages. This is the sign of a shallow, emotional thinker. You see that they call those who hold to the Doctrines of Grace as "anti-Christ", and claim we are apathetic in our knowledge of God, yet I see no deep thinking, no exegesis, no discussion (as such things are not allowed on their page) or debate. They are projecting greatly in this, as they revel in their shallow ignorance and lack of a critical evaluation of their own position. I know of at least two others who have been banned from their page since the beginning of this series, by doing nothing more than forcing those whom cling to this unbiblical view with cult-like fervor, into examining their position. This is the definition of willful ignorance. Where one is so wedded to a tradition, that they refuse to examine it in the light of Scripture. As always, the link to their page is in the first article in this series.
Don't be overwhelmed by the idea that Jesus died for His elect, because as I've said numerous times, we don't have a stamp on our forehead, or special vision that shows who the elect are. We are to preach the Gospel to all nations, and allow God to do His work in bringing His people to Him. If you've never heard the Gospel before, let me give it to you now. From before the foundations of the world, God knew man would fall, but He always had a plan. That plan was that at the proper time, God the Son, would take on human flesh, in Jesus Christ. That He would live a perfect and sinless life here on earth, and then to be put to death. Three days later, Jesus rose again, having defeated death, and broken the bonds of slavery to sin, for those who would draw unto Him, and believe. If you feel that drawing, don't hesitate, and pray to God for your salvation. God bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment