LIMITED ATONEMENT (In Two Parts)

LIMITED ATONEMENT
(In two parts)

PART I: THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT

Before we can even begin to discuss the limits of the atonement, we must first address the nature of the atonement. The truth is, most people don’t have a clear understanding of the atonement; and it is my contention that of those who actually do have a clear understanding of it, most hold a misconception of it’s nature. So, let’s ask the question, What is the nature of the atonement? Or to put it another way, What did Christ actually accomplish on the cross?

Although most people have never articulated or thought through the issue of the atonement, I’m convinced that most people subconsciously understand it as follows. They think that when Christ offered up Himself on the cross, his sacrificial death earned enough merit to pay the sin debt of every person who has ever lived. And when a sinner comes to Jesus and asks Him to be their Savior, Jesus transfers enough merit to their account to pay for their sins and so they are saved. In this view, Christ is said to have been "earning" something by His sacrificial death on the cross. He was "earning" some kind of wages, lets call them death credits. These death credits do not ACTUALLY save anybody, they have simply been earned by Christ so that He may make them available to all who will come and ask for them. He is like a good Den Mother at Gattiland, standing there with a bag of video game tokens, freely giving them out to all the good little children who ask politely. But is this the correct view of the atonement? Was Christ simply "earning" death credits on the cross so that He may offer them to the world? Or was He ACTUALLY atoning for the sins of His people?

Let me be crystal clear at this point folks. The simple truth is: Christ wasn’t earning wages on the cross - He was paying bills! Let me repeat that: Christ wasn’t earning wages on the cross - He was paying bills! Allow me to paint a picture for you that is far different from the one in the previous paragraph, one that frankly is far more Biblical.

The Bible teaches us that on the cross, Christ took our sins upon Himself "Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Col. 2:14) He wasn’t earning wages - He was paying bills! "But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." (Gal. 4:4-5) He wasn’t earning wages - He was paying bills! "And He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross. . ." (1 Pet. 2:24) He wasn’t earning wages - He was paying bills! "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." (Isa. 53:5) He wasn’t earning wages - He was paying bills! I could go on and on with these passages. The simple truth is that whenever and wherever the Scripture addresses the atonement, we find payment language. He is our "Redeemer," He is our "Savior," He "purchased" our freedom. If this is not the case, then the church has been fatally misleading people for 2000 years with words like "Penal substitution," and "Redemption." I invite anybody at this point to try and prove me wrong. The Bible is crystal clear on the nature of the atonement - Christ wasn’t earning wages on the cross - He was paying bills! The cross was the divine checkbook upon which Christ balanced our account in blood.

But now lets follow this through to it’s application. On the cross Christ paid the bills! For whom did He pay the bills? Well, let’s just say that if everybody’s bill has been paid than universalism is true and we can all go home. But neither the Bible, nor redemptive history allow us to make this kind of application. Instead, we must realize that on the cross Christ paid the bills for the elect only. Once this has been accomplished, at the appointed time the Holy Spirit delivers a "paid-in-full" receipt to the elect for whom it was paid; this is called regeneration. Before the receipt is delivered it belongs to the elect person by predestination; after it is delivered, it belongs to them by possession. It is very similar to a trust fund having been taken out for a child’s college education while he is still an infant. The trust fund really belongs to the child in the sense that they are destined to possess it, but they don’t enjoy the benefits of it until it has actually been handed over to them at the appointed time. Another picture would be that of an infant prince who is destined to ascend the throne and wear the crown some day. The crown really belongs to him in the sense that he is destined to wear it, but he doesn’t enjoy the benefits of it until it has actually been handed over to him at the appointed time. So it is with our salvation. If you are one of God’s elect, then that means that your sin bill has been paid by Christ on the cross and your redemption is really accomplished, but you don’t enjoy the benefits of it until it has actually been handed over to you by regeneration at the appointed time. Once it has been delivered to you, it’s power brings about regeneration and you become a new creature in Christ.

Now, having painted this Biblical picture of the atonement, lets recap the highlights: 1. Christ paid the sin debts of the elect on the cross. 2. Redemption is a reality for the elect although they do not enjoy the benefits of it until it is actually handed over to them. 3. At the appointed time the Holy Spirit delivers the "paid-in-full" receipt to the elect by way of regeneration. Now, if these three points are true, let me be so bold as to state the obvious: either He paid your bill or He didn’t (Period!) It really is that simple. We only have two options with regard to the nature of the atonement, either Christ was earning wages, or He was paying bills; and if He was paying bills then yours was either one of them or it was not. If your bill was paid, you will receive the paid-in-full receipt at the appointed time. If your bill wasn’t paid, you will pay it yourself in eternal hellfire.

PART II: THE LIMITATION OF THE ATONEMENT

Now you may be saying, I see your logic Shane, but can you prove limited atonement Biblically? I can! And I will do so in the simplest way, by pointing to four very clear passages of Scripture - two passages dealing with Christ’s death for the elect, and two passages dealing with the destiny of the non-elect.

The first passage we will look at is found in (Jn. 10:1-18). Lets begin with vs. 11-15; there we read:"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." Now this passage could not be more clear concerning who Christ laid down His life for: "the sheep." But who are these sheep? The text is clear in vs. 2-4, "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." So according to these verses, the sheep are those who "hear his voice," and "know his voice," and "follow him" when he "calls them by name." Furthermore, He calls them "his own sheep." Notice carefully, they don’t become His sheep because they hear his voice, but rather they hear his voice because they are His sheep. This is a very key element. We are His sheep before He calls us, so that when He does call us we will "hear His voice," "know His voice," and "follow Him." Now the text is crystal clear that it is these sheep for whom He lays down his life. Once again, He says "I lay down my life for (who?) the sheep." Now to use the metaphor consistently, those who are not His sheep are called goats. "As the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left." (Mat. 25:32-33) Concerning sheep and goats, my friend Stephen Newell has written a very good blog entitled "On Sheep and Goats." I will not spend time reiterating what he has already said; but I encourage you to read it.

The next passage is similar and is found in (Eph. 5:25-27). Here we read: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." Now obviously this is a charge to husbands given by the apostle Paul, but because marriage is to mirror the relationship between Christ and His church, Paul uses this as the model to which the husband is to aspire. In this passage he says plainly, "Christ loved the church and have Himself up for her." He did this so that He might "sanctify her," and "cleanse her," in order that "she would be holy and blameless." Clearly this is all about the church. Christ have his life for the church in order to sanctify, cleanse and make the church holy and blameless. Now, let me be so bold as to state the obvious, the church is made up of Christ’s sheep, for whom He died. Jesus said in (Jn. 10:15) "I lay down my life for the sheep." And now here in (Eph. 5:25) Paul is saying that "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." Those outside the church are not sheep; they are goats. He did not lay down his life for the goats; He laid down His life for the sheep, for the church.

So now you might ask, what about those outside the church, those outside of His sheepfold? This brings us to the first of the last two passages to which I will appeal in order to make my case. Turn to (1 Pet. 2:7-8), there we read: "This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, ‘the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,’ and, ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense;’ for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed." What! Appointed to stumble at the word! Appointed to be disobedient to the word! My friends, that is exactly what the text says. Neither you or I have the authority to erase it or blunt its force. The text says that those who disbelieve and stumble at the word have been appointed to such doom. How does this fit in with our discussion? Well, it’s quite simple. Those who are Christ’s sheep, hear His voice, know His voice, and follow Him. It is these for whom He has laid down His life. Those for whom He did not lay down His life have been appointed to this doom. But wait! You say. That’s not fair! You claim. Maybe not according to our very human, democratic way of understanding fariness. But, if you take into consideration the fact that nobody deserves to be saved in the first place you have nothing to grovel about. Those who were appointed to doom are treated fairly, they receive what they deserve. Those who are Christ’s sheep, for whom He laid down His life do not receive what they deserve, but are recipients of amazing grace. The only thing that isn't fair is that anybody is saved at all.

Let me appeal to one last passage. It is found in (Rom. 9:21-22). There we read: "Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction." Now in this passage, the apostle clearly points out that God has made some vessels for honorable use and the others are "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction." Once again, allow me to be so bold as to state the obvious. The vessels of honor are the sheep, for whom Christ laid down His life; the vessels of wrath, are those for whom Christ did not lay down His life; instead, they have been "prepared for destruction."

CONCLUSION

Now lets step back and take a deep breath and try to take in the whole panarama of what has been said here. First, we saw that rather than earning a big bag of death credits, on the cross Christ was actually paying the bills. He couldn’t have paid the bill for everybody because if he had, nobody would have any outstanding debt to pay in hell. So if He really was paying bills, we have to ask, for whom did He pay the bills. And the answer is, He paid the bills for the elect and we will see this next. Second, Christ Himself told us that He laid down His life for (who?), that’s right, the sheep. Those who are not His sheep are called goats. Paul tells us that Christ laid down His life for (who?), that’s right, the church. So, on the cross, Christ paid the bills for the elect, His sheep, the church. Third, what about those outside of the sheepfold? Peter tells us that they were appointed to stumble at the word; they were appointed to doom. Paul tells us that God has made two kinds of vessels, some vessels of honor and some vessels of wrath, and these vessels of wrath have been prepared for destruction.

In the final analysis, it is crystal clear that Christ paid the bills for the elect, His sheep, the church; and the rest are goats, vessels of wrath, appointed for doom and destruction. Now reader, the text is crystal clear on these issues; and at the risk of sounding overly pious let me be so bold as to simply say that at this point, it is simply a matter of whether or not you are willing to submit to the Word of God. Will you allow it to stand in judgment over you or will you stand in judgment over it? Christ died for the elect and the rest are appointed for destruction. You may not like it. But it is the truth of God’s Word. I have laid it out for you very clearly and systematically. This is what God has said. AMEN!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shane Morgan