Today, we'll finish up our discussion of the Five Points of Calvinism and the Five Articles of Arminian Remonstrance by looking at the Atonement of Christ, and whether or not a true believer, one who possesses eternal life, can lose that eternal life.  We'll conclude with a summary of the issues and mention topics for the final class in this course, which will be next week.

First: Limited & Unlimited Atonement

Limited Atonement   (Particular Redemption)
1. Jesus Christ died as the substitute of God’s elect, forever redeeming them.  He did not atone for the sins of any who will die as unbelievers.
2. Christ’s atonement was sufficient for all, but efficient only for the elect.
3. Christ’s sacrifice was actually propitiatory; it permanently appeased God’s wrath and satisfied His justice.
• Scripture:

  "But now, this is what the LORD says- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the LORD , your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. … I have revealed and saved and proclaimed- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,' declares the LORD , 'that I am God.'" (Isaiah 43:1-3,12)

  "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)

  "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people." (Luke 1:68)

  "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)

  "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.  All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.'" (John 6:35-39)

  "The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice. … I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. … I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep.  I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.  I must bring them also.  They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. … but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." (John 10:3-5,11,14-16,26-29)

  "It was just before the Passover Feast.  Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. … 'I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen.'" (John 13:1,18)

  "After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: 'Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.  Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.  I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.  I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.  They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.  For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.  They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.  I pray for them.  I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.  All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.  And glory has come to me through them.  I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.  Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one.  While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.  None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.  I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.  I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.  My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.  Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.  My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message … Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.  Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.  I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.'" (John 17:1-20,24-26)

  "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.  Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." (Acts 20:28)

  "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit … And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:1-4,28-30)

  "[Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14)

  "Therefore he is able to save completely [or forever] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." (Hebrews 7:25)

  "He … obtained eternal redemption. … For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. … So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:12,15,28)

  "And they sang a new song: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.'" (Revelation 5:9)

• Additional Scripture (Psalm 34:22; Isaiah 53:11; Matthew 1:21;15:13;20:28;26:28; Mark 10:45;14:24; Luke 19:10; John 11:50-52; Ephesians 5:25-27; Colossians 1:21-22,26-27; Hebrews 10:14; 1 Peter 2:24)

  Unlimited Atonement

  1. Jesus Christ died for all people, paying the price of redemption for them all.  But this does not guarantee their forgiveness; many of His redeemed will eventually be damned because of unbelief.
  2. Christ’s atonement was sufficient and efficient for all, but it only takes effect when faith is present.
  3. Christ’s sacrifice was merely a potential substitutionary atonement; it becomes an actual atonement when a person contributes faith to the equation, and even then, only if they persevere in faith to death.

• Scripture:

  "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)

  "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29)

  "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. … For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.  Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." (Romans 5:6-8,17-18)

  "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22)

  "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

  "[Praying for all men] is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men." (1 Timothy 2:3-6)

  "(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)

  "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. … For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people." (Hebrews 2:9,17)

  "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves." (2 Peter 2:1)

  "He is the atoning sacrifice [literally, the propitiation]for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)

• Additional Scripture (Luke 19:10; John 4:42;10:11;12:32; Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 3:18)

  ---

• BOTH VIEWS LIMIT THE ATONEMENT!
  1. Limited in extent or scope by the Calvinists (narrow bridge all the way across the chasm of sin)
  2. Limited in value or effectiveness by the Arminians (wide bridge goes only half way across the chasm of sin)

• The Issue: Did Christ die in the same way for all men?
  1. What was Christ’s death designed to accomplish from all eternity?
  2. What was accomplished by Christ’s death?
  3. Did it accomplish the desired outcome?
  4. Did Christ sufficiently satisfy the demands of God’s justice on the cross?  If not, then faith atones too…

• Thoughts on the Atonement
  1. Sproul, Grace Unknown, pg 164 quotes J.I. Packer, "[Arminians believe] Christ’s death did not ensure the salvation of anyone, for it did not secure the gift of faith to anyone (there is no such gift); what it did was rather to create a possibility of salvation for everyone if they believe."
  2. Did Christ pay for:
     • All the sins of all men?  Yes, then why is anyone sent to hell?
     • Some of the sins of all men?  Yes, then works must be involved to atone for the rest of our sins.
     • Some of the sins of some men?  Yes, then works must be involved…
     • All of the sins of some men?  Yes, then nothing else is necessary.  Christ did it all!
  3. Does God punish sin once in perfect justice or twice?
  4. Did Christ fail in His attempt to save all men?  Did He succeed in saving all those He intended to save?
  5. Many Passages say Jesus dies for "all" or the "world" (often explained in light of Jews / Gentiles).  Consider the following Scripture passages:
     
     John 1:9,29;3:16-17;4:42; Romans 5:18; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15,19; 1 Timothy 2:4-6; Hebrews 2:9; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 2:1-2;4:14

  Ligon Duncan of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, MS, in The First Epistle Volume 37, Number 36, September 16, 2004, says this:

  Everywhere in the New Testament that we find the emphasis on God as savior of "all men" or Christ as savior "of the world" the inspired biblical writers are pressing home and reveling in three grand realities simultaneously: (1) that there is only one Savior God and one way of salvation for all mankind – our savior God is the only saving hope for the whole of humanity; (2) that our Savior God is not only the savior of the Jews but also of the Gentiles; and (3) that our savior God is not merely the savior of some tiny remnant of Israel or the savior of some exclusive Judaizing or Gnostic few, but rather that He is the savior of a multitude that none can number.

Perseverance of the Saints
1. God preserves all true believers in Christ; none of the elect will fall away permanently.  He enables final perseverance; none will be lost.
2. "Once Saved, Always Saved" may be the wrong terminology, because it is misleading.  Perseverance is synergistic, where man cooperates with God's preserving grace.  The assurance of salvation and actual salvation are different.  It is possible to lack assurance of salvation and still be saved.  It is also possible to have false assurance of salvation and lack salvation!
3. Sproul, Grace Unknown, pg. 198, "Our salvation began in eternity, is realized in time, and looks forward to heaven."
• Scripture:

  "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)

  "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible." (Matthew 24:24)

  "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. … No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.'  Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. … I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life." (John 6:37-39,44,47)

  "The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.  Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. … I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep.  I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.  I must bring them also.  They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. … but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:3-6,14-16,26-29)

  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?  It is God who justifies.  Who is he that condemns?  Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:28-39)

  "He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)

  "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you have believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)

  "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)

  "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

  "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

  "Therefore he is able to save completely [or forever] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." (Hebrews 7:25)

  "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)

  "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.  Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.  For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have." (2 Peter 1:5-12)

  "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.  For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." (1 John 2:19)

  "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: … To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!  Amen." (Jude 1:1,24-25)

• Additional Scripture (Jeremiah 32:39-42; Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:22; John 5:24;8:31;17:12; Romans 11:2-7,29; Ephesians 2:6-7; Colossians 3:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 3:4; 2 Timothy 1:12;2:11-13;4:18)

Fall from Grace
1. God cannot (or will not) preserve in salvation those who of their own free will refuse to be preserved; once-believers who do not remain faithful to the end will lose their salvation, fall from grace, and spend eternity in hell.
2. Consider Saul, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Judas, etc.
3. Consider Charles Templeton (contemporary of Billy Graham and Oral Roberts in the 1950’s)

• Scripture:

  "You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (Matthew 5:13)

  "But he who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:13)

  "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." (John 6:66)

  "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.'" (John 8:31)

  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." (John 15:1-7)

  "Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.  Otherwise, you also will be cut off." (Romans 11:22)

  "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--which is really no gospel at all.  Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." (Galatians 1:6-7)

  "You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." (Galatians 5:4)

  "...which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith."(1 Timothy 6:21)

  "If we endure, we will also reign with him.  If we disown him, he will also disown us. … Their teaching will spread like gangrene.  Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth.  They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some." (2 Timothy 2:12,17-18)

  "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." (Hebrews 6:4-6)

  "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:29)

  "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.  Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.  For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have." (2 Peter 1:5-12)

  "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.  It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.  Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog returns to its vomit,' and, 'A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.'" (2 Peter 2:20-22)

  "Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position." (2 Peter 3:17)

  "See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father." (1 John 2:24)

  "Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.  If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Revelation 2:5)

  "He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.  I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels." (Revelation 3:5)

• Additional Scripture (Matthew 26:31; Romans 1:21-22; 1 Corinthians 9:27;15:1-2)

  Is there TRUE SAVING FAITH or MERE INTELLECTUAL ASSENT (satan)?  We cannot know about others with certainty - Even people like Charles Templeton.  Consider the parable of the sower (4 soils).