The next point I will deal with is the doctrine of Particular Redemption, or if you wish to go by TULIP, it is also refered to as the doctrine of Limited Atonement. Calvinists believe that when Christ died on the cross, He paid for the sins of His elect people and actually ransomed them. Jesus Christ didn't just provide a way for them to be saved as long as they do this and that, but rather, He actually bought and obtained their salvation. Calvinists "limit" the number of people He died for, but they do not limit what His death accomplished. Arminians, on the other hand, do not limit the number of people Christ died for, instead they limit the effectiveness of His death. According to them, Christ died for everyone, but that by itself is not enough to save anyone. Christ only provided a potential redemption. There are additional things that man of his own ability must do if he is to be saved. So Arminians limit the effectiveness of Christ's death while Calvinists only limit the number of people that Christ died for. According to Calvinism, Christ died only for the elect of God, but His death actually obtained their salvation...including the faith that they need to be justified.

There are four reasons we believe this. The first one has to do with the language scripture uses to describe the persons for whom Christ died. There are many places in the Bible that contain certain terms or phrases which indicate that Christ died for a paticular group of people. Matthew 1:27 says that Jesus will "save His people from their sins". In John 10:11, Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." We see in John 10:26-28 that Jesus says to a certain group, "But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep." We see here that Jesus was telling some that they were NOT of His sheep, and then He went on to say that He died for His sheep. Jesus spoke of two groups. Sheep and goats. Matthew 25:31 we read, "when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand but the goats on the left." So there are two groups...sheep and goats. Jesus tells us that He "gives His life for the sheep". This plainly demonstrates that Redemption is for paticular persons. We see in other places also that Jesus died for a limited number of people. Matthew 20:28 says, "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Matthew 26:28 says, "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Acts 20:28 says, "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." Ephesians 5:25-27 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her..." Hebrews 9:28 says, "so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many." And finally, we see in Revelation 5:9 that, "And they sang a new song saying, 'You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation..'" So we can clearly see from these verses that Jesus Christ bought the Church with His blood, that on the cross He ransomed His people, that by His death He obtained salvation for His sheep, that Christ died for many, that He redeemed us out of every nation. If you are like most people nowadays, you will have certain objections, either philosophical or scriptural, to the idea that Christ died only for the elect. We will deal with those objections later on in this discussion.

As I said above, there are four reasons Calvinists believe Particular Redemption. The second reason is concerned with the question of justice. Namely, if Christ actually died and literally paid for the sins of every single individual on the face of the earth, then we would have to conclude that every single person on the face of the earth, without exception, is going to Heaven. Here is why. Scripture says that Christ "Purchased the Church with His own blood." If Christ actually PURCHASED those that He died for, then they are rightfully His possession. Thus, if God sends them to hell, a great injustice has been committed! Scripture also tells us that Christ gave His life as a "ransom for many." If a ransom is paid, then the demanded price has been met, and the captive should go free. It would be unjust for God to continue to hold the sinner captive in Hell if the ransom has been paid. Again, Hebrews 1:3 says that when Jesus died on the cross He "purged our sins." To purge something, such as a stain, means to cleanse it away. Thus, if Jesus actually cleansed away the sins of His people then they are pure in the Father's sight, and there is no reason for them to be punished and it would be unjust to do so. If the Arminian's view is correct, then we have a problem. We have an unjust God. If Christ actually paid for the sins of all the people in the world and bought their salvation, then God would be UNJUST to send them to Hell.

At this point many people will attempt to argue that "yes, Christ paid for all our sins, so God isn't really sending people to hell for their sins, but rather, for their unbelief. God is completely just in sending them to to hell because they refuse to believe in Christ." However, we must ask the question... Is unbelief a sin? If it is a sin, and if Christ died for all sin, then Christ died for unbelief. Now if Christ died for the sin of unbelief then God cannot send a person to hell for unbelief and remain just. If Christ didn't die for the sin of unbelief then Christ did not pay for all of our sins! There is a problem here. If Christ died for everyone without exception, and if He paid for all sin, including the sin of unbelief, then God must send everyone to heaven if He is to be a just God. So if anyone goes to hell it must mean that either Christ did not die for the sin of unbelief or He did not die for the sins of everyone. Now if Christ did not die for the sin of unbelief then no one can go to heaven because everyone is an unbeliever prior to the time they started believing in Christ. So since we were all unbelievers for a period of time we have much sin which needs to be forgiven... but if Chirist did not die for our unbelief then those years of unbelief prior to the time we believed cannot be forgiven. The only possible biblical solution is that Christ died for all sin, including the sin of unbelief, but He died only for the elect. In that case nothing hinders the elect from being saved. By His death, Christ has paid for the unbelief of the elect and thus, has purchased the faith they need and, consequently, the Holy Spirit will regenerate them and give them the gift of faith in Jesus.

The 3rd reason we believe this is because of the doctrine of Unconditional Election. Christ said in numerous places that He and the Father are One. Christ is God, just as the Father is God. They agree... they have the same purposes, desires, and plans. Keeping this in mind we MUST come to the conclusion that Christ died only for the elect. Let me explain this. If God predestined a certain people to be His own, if He set them aside for Salvation and said that those are His own special people because He has chosen them, then Christ would obviously have to die for THOSE people. If He and the Father have the same will, if they are one, then it would have to be His will also for those particular people to be saved. If God had a plan about who would be saved, and who would not, then why would Christ go and die for people that God had not chosen? Wouldn't that destroy their unity? How can they be one and have the same desires and plans, and yet at the same time, be trying to save DIFFERENT people? How could they be unified if God the Father says, "I want to save these paticular people", and then Christ says, "Yes, but, I want to save these other people too, so I'm going to die for more than you elected." Christ would never attempt to enlarge on God's election, as if God's electing purpose was insufficient. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit work together in salvation just as in creation. Regarding creation, the Father planned the universe, the Son created the physical mass, and the Spirit of God hovered over that void and formless mass and arranged it into the orderly universe we observe. In the same way, the Trinity works together in salvation. The Father planned salvation and elected a people, the Son accomplished their salvation at the cross, and the Spirit applies this salvation through the new birth. The members of the Trinity never work at cross purposes. Those the Father elects are redeemed by the Son and regenerated by the Spirit.

The fourth reason we believe this doctrine is because of the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. If God is completely sovereign, and His will is ALWAYS accomplished, and if Christ died for every individual on earth, with the express intent of saving them all, then EVERYONE would be saved. But we know this is not the case. We know that some do not ever become Christians, we know that many, many die and go to Hell. In fact, there have been entire civilizations which were left utterly ignorant of the gospel for centuries. So, is Jesus Christ's divine will not being accomplished? Is He not getting what He wants? Has He failed in His objective? It is obvious that this cannot be the case. It has been said by a well-known Bible Scholar..."To say that God the Father has purposed the salvation of all mankind, that God the Son died with the express intention of saving the whole human race, and that God the Holy Spirit is now seeking to win the world to Christ; when, as a matter of common observation, it is apparent that the great majority of our fellow men are dying in sin, and passing into hopeless eternity: is to say that God the Father is dissappointed, that God the Son is dissatisfied, and that God the Holy Spirit is DEFEATED. We have stated the issue badly, but there is no escaping the conclusion. To argue that God is "trying His best" to save all mankind, but that the majority of men will not let Him save them, is to insist that the will of the Creator is impotent, and that the will of the creature is omnipotent. To throw the blame, as many do, upon the devil, does not remove the difficulty, for if Satan is defeating the purpose of God, then, Satan is almighty and God is no longer the Supreme Being." So we are left with only one other alternative--that, just as these Scriptures quoted above suggest, Christ died for His people. His desire was for THEM to be saved, His desire was to ransom THEM, to reconcile THEM to God, and to obtain salvation for THEM.

So here is the doctrine of Particular Redemption in a nutshell. God the Father chose a people to be His own, and Jesus Christ died for those people, in accordance with God's Will. He shed His blood for the elect and actually saved them. He did not merely provide a way for them to be saved upon certain conditions--He didn't just die for them to provide a possible salvation, but He actually bought and obtained their salvation. His death purchased and obtained their total salvation, including the faith that they need to become Christians. The Christian's faith is the gift of God, obtained by the work of Christ. Christ died for the elect of God and secured their salvation, and consequently all His people will all be justified (Romans 5:8-9).

Now I will deal with a common objection. John 3:16 is one verse that most people think of when they first hear this doctrine. I will explain how this verse fits in with Calvinistic beliefs.

The verse says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life..." The Calvinist certainly does not deny the fact that "whoever believes" in Christ will be saved. All of the elect are given faith in Christ, and Christ promises that all who believe will have everlasting life. Jesus said that "all that the Father gives Me shall come to Me and the one who comes to Me will by no means be cast out." (John 6:37) All of those the Father chose and gave to Christ will come to Him in Faith and everyone who comes will obtain eternal life. So the fact that "whoever believes" will have everlasting life is not the issue. The thing we need to consider is the beginning of the verse. It says, "For God so loved the WORLD." The Arminian looks and this and thinks that this disproves the Calvinistic doctrine of Particular Redemption. After all, doesn't the word "world" in this verse indicate that God loves everyone and that Christ died for everyone? But we have to ask the question, "What does the word 'WORLD' mean?" Does it mean every individual on the face of the earth without exception, or does it mean every race, tribe and culture on earth?

Well, to understand this, we must first look at the historical context. The Jews had always thought that the Messiah would be the saviour for the Jews ONLY. They thought that Jesus Christ had come only to save those who were the descendants of Abraham. However, Jesus was telling them that He hadn't come just to save Jewish people, but also people of all the other nations and races. Salvation was not just for Jews, but also for Gentiles. The Jews often used the word "world" and the word "Gentiles" interchangeably. They were the Jews, and the other peoples and nations were "the world" (You can see this in Romans 11:11- 15). Therefore, when Jesus said, "For God so loved the WORLD", the intended meaning was that God loved Gentiles as well as Jews. He was not necessarily teaching that God loved every single person on the face of the earth. So, we have two possible definitions of the word "world". In order to disprove the Arminian definition, which is "every single person on the earth", all I have to do is point out ONE case in which God says He hates someone. If the Bible ever says that God hates even one person, then we cannot say that the word world means every single person without exception. For if God loved EVERYONE, how could He possibly hate even one man? Romans 9:13 says, "As it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have HATED." And this isn't the only verse which speaks of God hating certain people. In Psalm 5:5, David, speaking of God, says, "The boastful shall not stand in Your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood. The Lord abhors the blood thirsty and deceitful man." (Note: Christ has covered the elect people's sins with His blood, so God does not see them as "workers of iniquity", but rather as pure as Christ Himself. Therefore, God does not hate the elect, despite their sin, but loves them. Ephesians 1:4-5 says that God chose and predestined His elect "in love") So the Bible plainly teaches that God loves His elect but that He hates the others (the non-elect). This may be a difficult doctrine to accept but these are the words of Scripture and Scripture cannot err. Therefore, the Arminian definition of the word "world" in this case cannot possibly be correct, if God hates certain people. God could not possibly love every individual without exception, if He says that He hates Esau and workers of iniquity. So, the only other conclusion we could come to, is that the word world here means all nations, races, and peoples. All tongues, tribes and countries. God loves Americans, as well as Frenchmen. Europeans as well as Israelites. American Indians as well as Indians from India. It would be a contradiction for God to say that He loves everyone in the world but then to say that He hates Esau. But it would not be a contradiction for Him to say He loves people from all nations and cultures, and then to say He hates Esau. There are two problems with the Arminian definition of the word "world". First of all, the Arminian definition ignores the historical context which is that the Jews believed that the Messiah was for them only, and that Jesus was explaining to them that this idea was incorrect. The second problem is that there is confusion within Scripture with the Arminian viewpoint. The Arminian viewpoint says that John 3:16 means God loves everyone, but then Romans 9:13 says that He hates Esau. With the Calvinistic viewpoint, there is no contradiction. Although God does not set His saving love on every individual without exception, He does love all races (the world). He loves all races and therefore He gives faith to many sinners of every race and gives the promise that regardless of whether a person is Jew or Gentile, he has eternal life if He believes in God's Son. Finally, whenever we attempt to define a word scripture uses, it is always best to compare scripture with scripture to determine what scripture itself means by that term. When the Bible says that Jesus died for the world it does not mean that He redeemed everyone on earth without exception but rather that He redeemed certain people out of every race and nation. Just as the four living creatures and the 24 elders sang in Revelation 5:9.

"And they sang a new song saying, 'You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation..'"

To continue with the article on what Calvinists believe, click here. This will take you to the discussion on Irresistable Grace.

If you have any questions about Calvinism, then email me here at RachelRuth@juno.com. =^D

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What About The History of Calvinism?

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