TULIP (Part 4) Limited Atonement

5 Points of Calvinism

TULIP

Thirdly, the "L" or the "Limited Atonement" of Christ's death.

a‧tone‧ment  /əˈtoʊnmənt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh-tohn-muhnt]
–noun

1.	satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

2.	(sometimes initial capital letter) Theology. the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, esp. as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.

The jews would sacrifice an animal to God for when they sinned to atone for those sins. Basically a payment for their sins, Jesus Christ is the ultimate atonement for sin.

So the question you have to ask yourself here is- Who did Christ die for? There are your only three choices (and in each case you are limiting the atonement in some way).
Either: 1. Christ died for some of the sins of all men.
2. Christ died for all the sins of some men.
3. Christ died for all the sins of all men.

Election merely set out who it would that would be saved, it does not actually save anyone. There must be an atonement, and a way for depraved men to be set free of their sin. This was through the blood of Christ shed on the cross.

Romans 3
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Sin is an infinite insult to God, and so God could not simply pass over sin as if it were irrelevant, there must be an atonement and shedding of blood for forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). Christ bore the curse, and he was made a curse, forsaken by God, so that the ones given to Him by the Father could be justified. And now the justified are looked on by God as though they had lived the life of Christ, because He took all the sins upon himself.

The effects of this though are limited in that they are only effective for the elect. You cannot say that Christ died for every man in the same way, because then you are saying that Christ died for all mens sins, making all men savable, but did not actually save anyone.

"It did not actually remove God's punitive wrath from anyone, but instead created a place where people could come and find mercy—IF they could accomplish their own new birth and bring themselves to faith without the irresistible grace of God. In other words if you believe that Christ died for all men in the same way, then the benefits of the cross cannot include the mercy by which we are brought to faith, because then all men would be brought to faith, but they aren't." (Piper)

The Arminian is actually the one who limits the atonement, they limit its effectiveness to save souls, and only make it a possibilty for men to somehow pull themselves out of complete depravity, and make a conversion on their own apart from God.

We should not limit the power and effectiveness of the atonement, but see the cross as the plan God had for actual redemption of His children. So I believe that Christ did not just simply make it possible for people to be saved, he actual purchased all they needed to be saved.


Biblical Support
*As with all things that I say it is essential that biblical support be used. It is not important what a person thinks God should do, or that a person thinks "an all-loving God would never do that." It must be backed up with scripture or it is irrelevant.*

Okay well, limited atonement is definately one that must be explained much further, and probably not by me. Especially if you are having difficulty understanding what I am trying to say. But there are many scriptures that show that Christ died only for believers. Such as:

John 10
14 I am the good shepherd, and I know my own and my own know Me,
15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

Further in the chapter...
25 "...I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in my Father's name, these testify of Me.
26 "But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep."

I've used this before but notice Christ says, he lays down His life for His sheep. But they do not believe because they are not of His sheep (not you are not my sheep because you don't believe), thus because they are not of His sheep He does not lay His life down for them.

Jesus praying to the Father:
John 17
6 "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.

9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Mel for they are Yours;"

19 "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth."

He is speaking of His death to come, it is not for the world in general but for those who will believe.

John 11
51 Now he [Caiaphas] 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.
52 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.

Here is describing that the children of God are spread world wide, they are "the sheep" that the Father will draw to the Son.

Revelation 5
9 "Worhty 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."

"John does not say that the death of Christ ransomed all men but that it ransomed men from all the tribes of the world. This is the way we understand texts like 1 John 2:2 which says, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." This does not mean that Christ died with the intention to appease the wrath of God for every person in the world, but that the "sheep," "the children of God" scattered throughout the whole world, "from every tongue and tribe and people and nation" are intended by the propitiation of Christ."
The "whole world" refers to the children of God scattered throughout the whole world.
If "the whole world" referred to every individual in the world, we would be forced to say that John is teaching that all people will be saved, which he does not believe (Revelation 14:9-11)." (Piper)

To take something from a friend of mine at my church (Phillip) If you believe that Christ died for the sins of all men, then you are forced to say that God is unjust in punishing sinners in hell. Christ already payed for their sins, and now they are having to pay for their sins in hell, the consistency is lacking.

One of the big verses on the description of Christ's death is found in Ephesians chapter 5:
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26 so that He might santify her, having cleansed her by the washin of water with the word.

The whole purpuse of the death of Christ is for the sanctification and glorification of His church, His sheep, His elect. Simimlarly in Titus 2:14 it expresses the same idea.

Conclusion

I do not deny passages in the bible that say things like:

1 Timothy 4:10 ..."God , who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."

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 Timothy 2:4 ..."who desires all me to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

I do believe all men are intended benificiaries in some sense from the cross, but they are not all in the same way as those who believe. There is in fact mercy given to unbelievers, that they are not dropped straight into hell ,the only thing holding them back is the mercy of God. Every breath an unbeliever takes, every sunrise he sees is another mercy of God.

It leads us back to the three choices:
1. Christ died for some of the sins of all men.
This simply is not true as the scriptures clearly point out.

2. Christ died for all the sins of some men.

3. Christ died for all the sins of all men.
If you say this then you must answer then why are not all men saved? A: Because they did not believe. But if you say that is not unbelief one of the sins Christ died for? A:Yes. Then why are not all men saved?


Two, is the only answer left.
I think though the best way to put it is the way that I once heard John MacArthur put it: "Christ death on the cross was sufficient for the whole world's sin, but it is only effecient for the elect (or those who believe)."

Once again if there are questions about this feel free to ask me, or better yet find a website like the website that I got alot of this information off of (www.desiringgod.org). That will explain it much better than I could.

I pray that you would search out these issues for yourself, read your bible and pray. And may the Holy Spirit open you up to the word.

This post made brighter by request from my roommate who complains that its not easily readable.
citing:
*NASB Lockman Foundation
*John Piper "What we believe about Calvinism"