LIMITED ATONEMENT DEBATE PT. 3
I continue from where I left off by providing more proofs that Christ died for all creation: LIMITED ATONEMENT DEBATE PT. 2.
JOHN’S GOSPEL
“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 1:29
“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. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18
COMMENTS
I’ll let John Calvin explain the meaning of these texts:
Who taketh away the sin of the world. He uses the word sin in the singular number, for any kind of iniquity; as if he had said, that every kind of unrighteousness which alienates men from God is taken away by Christ. And when he says, the sin Of The World, he extends this favor indiscriminately TO THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE; that the Jews might not think that he had been sent to them alone. But hence we infer that the whole world is involved in the same condemnation; and that as ALL MEN WITHOUT EXCEPTION are guilty of unrighteousness before God, they need to be reconciled to him. John the Baptist, therefore, by speaking generally of the sin of the world, intended to impress upon us the conviction of our own misery, and to exhort us to seek the remedy. Now our duty is, to embrace the benefit WHICH IS OFFERED TO ALL, that each of us may be convinced that there is nothing to hinder him from obtaining reconciliation in Christ, provided that he comes to him BY THE GUIDANCE OF FAITH. (Calvin’s Commentaries http://www.biblestudyguide.org/comment/calvin/comm_vol34/htm/vii.vii.htm; bold and capital emphasis mine)
That whosoever believeth on him may not perish. It is a remarkable commendation of faith, that it frees us from everlasting destruction. For he intended expressly to state that, though we appear to have been born to death, undoubted deliverance is offered to us by the faith of Christ; and, therefore, that we ought not to fear death, which otherwise hangs over us. And he has employed the UNIVERSAL term whosoever, both to invite ALL indiscriminately to partake of life, and to cut off every excuse from unbelievers. Such is also the import of the term World, which he formerly used; for though nothing will be found in the world that is worthy of the favor of God, yet he shows himself to be reconciled TO THE WHOLE WORLD, when he invites ALL MEN WITHOUT EXCEPTION to the faith of Christ, which is nothing else than an entrance into life.
Let us remember, on the other hand, that while life is promised universally to all who believe in Christ, still faith is not common to all. For Christ is made known and held out to the view of all, but the elect alone are they whose eyes God opens, that they may seek him by faith…
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world. It is a confirmation of the preceding statement; for it was not in vain that God sent his own Son to us. He came not to destroy; and therefore it follows, that it is the peculiar office of the Son of God, that all who believe may obtain salvation by him. There is now no reason why any man should be in a state of hesitation, or of distressing anxiety, as to the manner in which he may escape death, when we believe that it was the purpose of God that Christ should deliver us from it. The word world is again repeated, THAT NO MAN MAY THINK HIMSELF WHOLLY EXCLUDED, if he only keep the road of faith. (Ibid., http://www.biblestudyguide.org/comment/calvin/comm_vol34/htm/ix.iii.htm; bold and capital emphasis mine)
JUDE AND 2 PETER
“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for ANY to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
COMMENTS
Here’s what John Calvin wrote in respect to these two texts:
The only Lord God, or, God who alone is Lord. Some old copies have, “Christ, who alone is God and Lord.” And, indeed, in the Second Epistle of Peter, Christ alone is mentioned, and there he is called Lord. (194) But He means that Christ is denied, when they WHO HAD BEEN REDEEMED BY HIS BLOOD, become again the vassals of the Devil, and thus RENDER VOID as far as they can THAT INCOMPARABLE PRICE. That Christ, then, may retain us as his peculiar treasure, we must remember that he died and rose again for us, that he might have dominion over our life and death. (Ibid. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/jude-1.html; bold and capital emphasis mine)
9. But the Lord is not slack, or, delays not. He checks extreme and unreasonable haste by another reason, that is, that the Lord defers his coming that he might invite ALL MANKIND to repentance. For our minds are always prurient, and a doubt often creeps in, why he does not come sooner. But when we hear that the Lord, in delaying, shews a concern for our salvation, and that he defers the time because he has a care for us, there is no reason why we should any longer complain of tardiness. He is tardy who allows an occasion to pass by through slothfulness: there is nothing like this in God, who in the best manner regulates time to promote our salvation. And as to the duration of the whole world, we must think exactly the same as of the life of every individual; for God by prolonging time to each, sustains him that he may repent. In the like manner he does not hasten the end of the world, in order to give TO ALL time to repent.
This is a very necessary admonition, so that we may learn to employ time aright, as we shall otherwise suffer a just punishment for our idleness.
Not willing that any should perish. So wonderful is his love towards mankind, that he would have them ALL TO BE SAVED, and is of his own self prepared to bestow salvation on the lost. But the order is to be noticed, that God is ready to receive ALL TO REPENTANCE, so that NONE may perish; for in these words the way and manner of obtaining salvation is pointed out. Every one of us, therefore, who is desirous of salvation, must learn to enter in by this way.
But it may be asked, If God wishes none to perish, why is it that so many do perish? To this my answer is, that no mention is here made of the hidden purpose of God, according to which the reprobate are doomed to their own ruin, but only OF HIS WILL as made known to us in the gospel. For God there stretches forth his hand WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE TO ALL, but lays hold only of those, to lead them to himself, whom he has chosen before the foundation of the world.
But as the verb χωρὢσαι is often taken passively by the Greeks, no less suitable to this passage is the verb which I have put in the margin, that God would have all, who had been before wandering and scattered, to be gathered or come together to repentance. (Ibid. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom45.vii.iv.iii.html; http://www.biblestudyguide.org/comment/calvin/comm_vol45/htm/vii.iv.iii.htm; bold and capital emphasis mine)
1 TIMOTHY
“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-7
“It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.” 1 Timothy 4:9-10
COMMENTS
Reformed Baptist and Calvinist minister John MacArthur responds to those who seek deny that all men means everyone:
“Some have argued that this passage teaches universalism. If God desires the salvation of all men, they argue, then all will be saved, or God won’t get what He wants. Others argue that what God wills comes to pass, because all mean means all classes of men, not every individual. NEITHER OF THOSE POSITIONS IS NECESSARY, HOWEVER. We must distinguish between God’s will of decree (His eternal purpose), and His will expressed as desire. Desire is not from boulomai, which would be more likely to express God’s will of decree, but from thelo, which can refer to God’s will of desire. This is precisely the distinction theologians often make between God’s secret will and His revealed will.
“God desires many things that He does not decree. It was never God’s desire that sin exist, yet the undeniable existence of sin proves that even sin fulfills His eternal purposes (Isa. 46:10)-though in no sense is He the author of sin (James 1:13).
“Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were willing’ (Matt. 23:37). John Murray and Ned B. Stonehouse wrote, ‘We have found that God himself expressed and ardent desire for the fulfillment of certain things which he has not decreed in his inscrutable counsel to come to pass’ (The Free Offer of the Gospel [Phillipsburg, N. J.: Presb. & Ref., 1979], 26). God desires all men to saved. It is their willful rejection of Him that sends them to hell. The biblical truths of election and predestination do not cancel man’s moral responsibility.” (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 Timothy [Moody Publishers, Chicago, Il. 1995], pp. 70-71; capital and underline emphasis mine)