Luke 19:9-10
And Jesus
said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also
is a son of Abraham; 10for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was
lost."
Illustration
#1:
Banquet Fee
Paid for All (universal atonement)
Give all a
nickel ( worth a quadzillion dollars) God
sent me to give you all the entry fee.
Now everybody
can get in right? Everyone has been paid for right?
But lets say
some of you just don't believe you have enough to get in so
you don't
go to the banquet. Maybe some of you forget about it after a while.
Maybe because
of carelessness some of you even lose your nickel and can't get in!
Some make
it, some are forever locked out.
This is the
way the Cross of Christ is portrayed in most of Christendom these days.
In contrast:
Banquet Fee
Paid for Those Who Believe (limited atonement)
God sent me
to give all of you who are written in the banquet directory the payment.
Give a nickel
to all those who Believe/Recieve that the payment is enough (and is for them).
Tell them
you will guide them to the banquet. Warn of trouble/trial.
Assure them that the
price is sufficient...
The scripture
clearly demonstrates the second illustration to be the Biblical one.
If the first
were true (General Ransom/Universal Atonement) then certain things
must logically follow i.e.
Salvation
is ultimately up to man This kind of salvation can be lost
Free will
must be exalted in place of God's Sovereignty.
(Salvation
placed in the hands of free will is no doubt in a very dangerous place)
The problem
with the idea of a universal atonement is that it is simply not biblical.
Have these
passages read:
Is 25.9 Is 59.1
Jer 17:14
Jer 30:10-11
Zephaniah
3.17 Zechariah 8.7 Mt 1.21
Lk 9.56
John 12.47 1Cor 1.21 1Tim 1.15
(Parenthetically
We get hung
up on the use of the word "world" and "all". We must allow
the context to define the meaning and extent of these words:
Luke 2:1
And
it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be registered.
Romans 1:8
First,
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world.
John 1:10-13
He
was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not
know Him. 11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God.
Romans 11:11-12
I
say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through
their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the
Gentiles. 12Now if their fall is riches for the
world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more
their fullness!
2 Peter 3:9
The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness,
but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance. )
sozo, sode'-zo; from a primary
sos (contracted for obsolete saos, "safe");
to save, i.e. deliver or protect (literal or figurative)
:- heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.
John Owen:
Christ died
for either
1. all the
sins of all men
2. all the
sins of some men
3. some sins
of all men
If #1 is true
(all of all) why then are not all saved? What is left to pay? Are the sins
of the lost paid for
twice? once
by Christ & once for all eternity for unbelievers?
You will say they are not saved because they did not believe. Is not
unbelief a sin? Did not Christ pay for ALL SINS OF ALL MEN? This position is niether logical/experiential/biblical
If #3 (some
of all) then all will surely perish! We are still left in our sins, corrupt
and unholy, unable to atone for ourselves.
#2 logically
emerges (all of some). This is the biblical teaching and this also fits our
experience.
For either
Christ is the potential Saviour of all men everwhere, or He is the actual/real
Saviour of God's elect, chosen before the foundation of the world, predestined
people throughout all the world & throughout all time!
CH Spurgeon
put it this way:
We are often
told that we limit the atonement of Christ because we say that Christ has
not made a satisfaction for all men, or all would be saved. Now our reply
is, that it is our opponents limit
it; we do not. The Arminians say, Christ died for all men. Ask them what they
mean by it. Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of all men? They
say, No certainly not. We ask them the next question, Did Christ die so as
to secure the salvation of any man in particular? They answer No. They are
obliged to admit this, if they are consistent. They say No. Christ died so
that any man may be saved if...- and then follow certain conditions of salvation.
Now who is it that limits the death of Christ? Why, you. You say that Christ
did not die so as to infallibly secure the salvation of anybody. We beg your
pardon, when you say that we limit Christ's death; we say No my dear sir,
it is you that do it. We say that Christ so died that He infallibly secured
the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ's
death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved and cannot by any
possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved. You are welcome to
your atonement; you may keep it. We will never renounce ours for the sake
of yours.
Beloved saint
of almighty God,
If you've
lost your passion for Christ, if you're not excited about about knowing Him
and making Him known,
If no genuine
love for your redeemer, perhaps it is because this idea of a useless universal
atonement is quenching all of your spiritual life!
Galatians 2:20-21
I
have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21I
do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through
the law, then Christ died in vain."
Like the coins
that were lost of thrown away, can the precious blood of Christ be shed in
vain?
May we cry
out to God until we have the same sense of personal atonement that Paul had!
Luke 19:9-10
And Jesus
said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also
is a son of Abraham; 10for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was
lost."