Friday, March 23, 2012

Who Did Jesus Die For?

The question may be asked, "Who did Jesus die for?" Some people would say that He died for everyone. This is false. Did he die for those already living in hell? Of course not! In order to better understand what is at stake here, it might be wise to ask the question, "How many times did Jesus die?" Once! Jesus does not die all over again every time a person is saved. He died once to purchase salvation. Every individual who would be saved was covered by the death and blood of Jesus Christ. Everyone else was not!

Those who say Jesus died for all men and that all men are morally free to accept or reject the offer of salvation are ignorant* of the issue at stake. If Jesus died for the salvation of all men, then all men will be saved. No matter how you dice it, this is Universalism. If there are men who are not saved, then Jesus never died for their salvation. Otherwise they would have received it. If Jesus died for the salvation of certain appointed men, then only those certain appointed men will be saved, which is what the Bible teaches through and through as crystal clear as glass. The God Who died to save all men but only saves some is a failure. John 6:37 says that "All that the Father gives me will come to me." Not some. Not most. All! The giving precedes the coming.

Jesus died for the salvation of His people—those people that God the Father gave Him from before the foundations of the world whom the Spirit seals and sanctifies at the appointed time. He died once to purchase their salvation. If Jesus died for all men, then His death purchased salvation for all men, which means that all men will be saved. Again, no matter how you dice it, this is Universalism. This is a heresy! Jesus' death purchased salvation for certain appointed men only. Not for all men everywhere.

This is the crux of the issue that Arminianists and Dispensationalists fail to grasp. Because they ignorantly believe that all men are generally good, they believe that it is unfair if all men are not given the same treatment. Yet, this is precisely what we see with regard to God choosing a single nation and leaving every other nation to themselves. Arminianists and Dispensationalists deliberately overlook this because it undermines their doctrines. Man's goodness has nothing to do with the issue. Salvation is not based upon how good you are or how morally you have lived. Further, all men are not generally good. They are generally evil. There has never been a philosopher who has ever believed that man was generally good. Arminianists and Dispensationalists generally want to believe Jesus died for all men due to their perverted interpretations of John 3:16. In order to understand this issue, read the blog entry The Word "World".

Scripture nowhere speaks of man's "free will." Romans 6 informs us that we are either slaves to God or slaves to sin. There is no middle ground. Scripture is also replete with verses stating that God is in control of, and over, men and that He bounds, overrules, and directs men according to His purposes. He uses ungodly men to accomplish His will, raising up whomever He wills and abasing whomever He wills. Romans 9 and 2 Timothy both speak of vessels of honour and vessels of dishonour. Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 both speak of those who "were not written in the book of life from before the foundations of the world." Peter and Jude both speak of men who were ordained to destruction.

In order to understand what is meant by "certain appointed men," please read the blog entry 2 Peter 3:9. Jesus came to save His people from their sins. Are all men His people? No! Clearly not! Jesus came to die for His people and to purchase salvation for His people. Salvation was purchased at Calvary. If Jesus died for all men and to purchase salvation for all men, then clearly all men must be and will be saved, which, again, is Universalism. Salvation was purchased at Calvary! Therefore, any man or woman who never receives salvation was never saved at Calvary. Jesus died once for all time! Past, present, and future all stand before Calvary. Only those who have received salvation stand covered by the blood on Calvary's hill.



* Ignorance does not in any way, shape, or form denote or connote stupidity. The literalness of a word is its denotation; the broader associations we have with a word are its connotations. “A person can be ignorant (not knowing some fact or idea) without being stupid (incapable of learning because of a basic mental deficiency). And those who say, ‘That’s an ignorant idea’ when they mean ‘stupid idea’ are expressing their own ignorance.” (Paul Brians, Common Errors in English Usage, posted on <http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/ignorant.html>).