Chapter 8:

Definite Atonement

 

 

 

Who did Jesus Die For?

            Of all of Calvinism’s concepts, for many the hardest of the five points of Calvinism to accept is that of Particular Atonement.  This belief, however, is shrouded in much misunderstanding.  Many people feel that this teaching limits the value of Christ’s death on the cross, to say that Jesus’ blood was not shed for anyone but the elect.  The question when encountering this (for many) uncomfortable doctrine is, why did Christ come to this earth?  To make salvation possible for anyone and everyone, or to save his sheep and to leave the goats?

            After outlining the purpose of God in salvation and the means of his salvation of men, it should be clear that God’s purpose is to save his elect.  Thus, an examination of the different views of Christ’s atonement is in order.

 

Actual Universalism

All men are saved.  A loving God would never condemn people to eternal punishment.  The reasoning used in this line of thought is that Christ died for all as a propitiation of everyone’s sins.  If Christ died for all, no one can go to hell because he has justified all through the shedding of his blood.  The church Father Origen (185-254) was the first to suggest the concept of universalism.  “Origen and Universalism, however, were condemned as unorthodox at the Fifth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in A.D. 553.”[2]  Norman Geisler points out that Karl Barth is probably one of the most influential twentieth century theologians to embrace and promote Universalism.

            The problem with Universalism, however, is that the Bible unmistakably teaches the concept of an eternal torment which comes after death (Matt. 25:41; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15).  Jesus also had more to say about Hell than he did about Heaven.  Needless to say, I will not be spending any more time addressing this form of Universalism, as it is not a concern of mine in this paper.

 

Hypothetical Universalism

Christ’s death made salvation possible for everyone but actual only for those who add to it a response of faith and repentance that was not secured by it.  This is considered within the bounds of orthodoxy.  I would suppose that this is the most popular view within the church at large, today.

 

Particular Atonement

“The death of Christ actually put away the sins of all God’s elect and ensured that they would be brought to faith through regeneration and kept in faith for glory.  This is what it was intended to achieve.  From this definiteness and effectiveness follows its limitedness: Christ did not die in the efficacious sense for everyone.”[3]

            I have become convinced of the Particular Atonement of Christ, myself.  This view is actually supported by the fact that not all are saved, as well as scriptural principles.  Scripturally speaking, there are many verses which speak of the Father as having chosen out individuals for salvation and Christ coming to redeem them.  Here are just a few:

 

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  John 6:37-40

 

            First, from these verses, we can know that anyone who has been given to Christ will come for salvation.  Christ says that He came so that everyone who believes may have eternal life.  There is a simple connection between these two purposes: Christ came to save those whom the Father has given to Him, that they might be raised up on the last day.  If you look at the verse for long enough you can see that this is what Christ is teaching here.

 

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”  John 10:27-29

           

Once again we see that Christ teaches that He came to redeem His sheep whom the Father has given to Him.

 

“I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep…I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore, My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from the Father.”  John 10:11-18

           

Christ understood quite clearly the purpose of His coming.  In reality, that understanding is the center of the concept of definite atonement; the idea that Christ came to save His sheep whom the Father had given Him since the beginning of time itself.  The purpose of Christ was not to make it possible for the sheep and goats to all get a chance to come with Him.  It was to save His sheep and justly condemn the goats.  We must get over the idea that we deserve to be saved or that in order to be Just, God has to save everyone.

Other sections of scripture which deal with this same concept are in Romans 8:28-39; 5:8-10; Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 John 4:9-10; Revelation 1:4-6; 5:9-10; 1 Peter 1:20.  All of these verses are worthy of careful study.  I believe that they paint a slightly different picture of the atonement than is normally heard in the church today.  In addition, Christ’s high priestly prayer in John (17:9, 20) is highly informative as it shows that Christ does not pray for the whole world, but those from the world who would some day become his disciples.  The future believers in history (those whom the Father had given him) are those who were on Christ’s heart and mind the night before he ascended the cross to bear their sins.

            J.I. Packer in A Quest for Godliness says with regard to the idea that Christ died for all but does not save all: “So far from magnifying the love and grace of God, this claim dishonors both it and him, for it reduces God’s love to an impotent wish and turns the whole economy of ‘saving grace,’ so-called (‘saving’ is really a misnomer in this view), into a monumental divine failure.  Also, so far from magnifying the merit and worth of Christ’s death, it cheapens it, for it makes Christ die in vain.”  He adds a little later, “You cannot have it both ways: an atonement of universal extent is a depreciated atonement.  It has lots its saving power; it leaves us to save ourselves.”[4]

            Besides simply attacking the Arminian view of the atonement, he also builds a positive view of Christ’s sacrifice: “By contrast, however, the doctrine [of definite atonement]… is biblical and God-honoring.  It exalts Christ, for it teaches Christians to glory in his cross alone, and to draw their hope and assurance only from the death and intercession of the Savior.  It is, in orher words, genuinely evangelical.  It is, indeed, the gospel of God and the catholic (universal) faith.”[5]

C.H. Spurgeon once said this:

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 men would be saved.  Now, our reply to this is, that on the other hand, 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 has died 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 infallibly to secure the salvation of anybody.  We beg your pardon, when you say we limit Christ’s death; we say, ‘No, my dear sir, it is you that do it.’  We say 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 it.[6]

 

            It is of crucial importance to reiterate over and over again to the reader that the fact that Christ died for His sheep does not limit the value of Christ’s death on the Christ, nor does it reduce the sincerity of God’s call for people to repent.

 

It can be certain that all who come to Christ in faith will find mercy (John 6:35, 47-51, 54-57; Rom. 1:16; 10:8-13).  The elect hear Christ’s offer and through hearing it are effectually called by the Holy Spirit.  Both the invitation and the  effectual calling flow from Christ’s sin-bearing death.  Those who reject the offer of Christ do so of their own free will (i.e. because they choose to, Matt. 22:1-7; John 3:18), so that their final perishing is their own fault.  “Those who receive Christ learn to thank him for the cross as the centerpiece of God’s plan of sovereign saving grace.”[7]

 

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