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FOR WHOM DID CHRIST DIE?
John Owen
The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:
- All the sins of all men.
- All the sins of some men, or
- Some of the sins of all men.
In which case it may be said:
- That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved.
- That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth.
- But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?
You answer, "Because of unbelief."
I ask, Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!"
http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/faq/forwhom.html
http://www.the-highway.com/Death_Owen.html
I love this apologetic by the Puritan John Owen because it exposes the faulty thinking concerning the atoning death of Christ. Most people today assert (wrongly, I might add) that Christ died for all the sins of all men. IF this were the case, then certainly all people would be destined and secured of heavenly residence when they pass from this earthly life into the next. From Holy Writ itself, we know this is not the case. Consider the documentation of the wealthy man and the beggar Lazarus (not Jesus' friend who He raised from the dead, a different Lazarus) in Luke 16: 19-31:
"Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.
Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.'
But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'
And he (the wealthy man in Hell) said, 'Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father's house - for I have five brothers - that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'
But he (the wealthy man in Hell) said, 'No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!'
But he (Abraham) said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.'" (NASB)
So you see, we have documentation from Scripture itself that there are people in Hell. The logical and reasonable conclusion is that Jesus did NOT die on the cross to pay the penalty of ALL the sins of ALL men - or else there would be no person in Hell - only Satan and his demons. But from Scripture, we see there are people in Hell. This means either Jesus did not pay the ransome for all men, or the King of kings and Lord of lords is less than capable. Heresy! There is no impotence in God. He is all-powerful, all-capable, all-mighty. He lacks nothing. His will WILL come about. No one whom He died for will slip through His sovereign hand! When Jesus declared 'It is finished' on the cross, He was affirming the definite redemption of His people. God forbid we keep mute while heresy is released on simple, ignorant, unsuspecting ears. We may not be 'born again' until we're 30, but our eternal salvation was secure at the cross! AMEN! GLORY HALLELUJAH!
Today is Good Friday. My favorite day of Holy Week. Yes, Easter is the glory of the Passion, but Easter is nothing without a right understanding of Good Friday.
Just who did Jesus die on the cross for? That's the most important question - I think - and one that must be investigated instead of merely assumed. Christ died the death due to those God gave Him. In short, Jesus Christ was smitten, tortured, humiliated, forsaken by the Father, and died for the Elect as opposed to the universal 'world'. The Elect are those sovereignly chosen from before the dawn of time to be favored by God. (Ephesians 1:4)
"As many as were ordained to eternal life believed." Acts 13:48
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that you should go forth and bring forth fruit...." John 15:16
"For the transgression of my people, He was stricken." Isaiah 53:8
"You are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21
"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people." Luke 1:68
"I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own." John 10:14
"It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love." John 13:1
"Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him...I pray for them. I am not praying for the world." John 17:1-2, 9
J.I. Packer has pointed out that the statement "Christ died for you," which has become so common in today's evangelism, simply cannot be found in any of the sermons recorded for us in Scripture. Packer writes:
"The fact is that the New Testament never calls on any man to repent on the ground that Christ died specifically and particularly for him. The basis on which the New Testament invites sinners to put faith in Christ is simply that they need Him, and that He offers Himself to them, and that those who receive Him are promised all the benefits that His death secured for His people. What is universal and all-inclusive in the New Testament is the invitation to faith, and the promise of salvation to all who believe.... The gospel is not 'believe that Christ died for everybody's sins, and therefore for yours,' any more than it is, 'believe that Christ died only for certain people's sins, and so perhaps not for yours.' The gospel is: 'believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for sins, and now offers you Himself as your Saviour.' This is the message which we are to take to the world. We have no business to ask them to put faith in any view of the extent of the atonement; our job is to point them to the living Christ, and summon them to trust in Him."
Further, "a good example of the kind of preaching Packer describes is Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon...believed in a definite atonement. But this did not stop him from becoming one of the most effective evangelists of his age. He did not lie to people. He did not say, 'I know you are elect; therefore, Christ died for you.' For Spurgeon, it was enough to say, 'You are a sinner, and Jesus died for sinners. If you would be saved, you must repent of your sin and believe the gospel.'" (The Doctrines of Grace by James M. Boice, pp.133)
There are merely two kinds of people - Elect and Reprobate. Children of God or children of the devil. "Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceed forth and come from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.'" (John 9:39-47 NKJV)
Powerful!
It is humanly impossible to know for certain who is which, but one day it will be known. That's why we are commanded to preach the whole truth of the Gospel in it's entirety to every tribe and tongue - the Elect are 'in there somewhere'!
"Do not say, 'But I do not know if Jesus died for me or not.' You cannot know the answer to that in the abstract. The only way you will ever know is if you will come to Jesus. If you do come, then you know that you are one for whom He died. Therefore, come to Jesus! And if you have not done so before, come now!" (The Doctrines of Grace by James M. Boice, pp.134)
Now that's a biblical alter call!
© Jill Grier
