Until recently, I had not been greatly influenced by the various traditions of Christianity. I understood the basics of their doctrines, but all I knew was what was in the Bible itself. One of the controversies that I was somewhat familiar with was the predestination vs. free-will debate. I knew that there was a controversy, but not the specifics of Calvinism or Arminianism. A short time ago, however, I received a book about Calvinism in which I read a defense of a doctrine known as limited atonement. Briefly stated, limited atonement is the belief that Christ's death on the cross only atoned for the sins of the elect. In other words, Jesus only died for those who would become Christians. The argument is that everywhere that the Word of God seems to speak of Christ being the Savior of the world, or dying for all men, the context indicates that the words all or world is meant in a limited sense. They argue that if Jesus died for everyone, then everyone would be saved!
I believe that this doctrine is not only incorrect but that it denies the whole purpose of Christianity! I believe in predestination with all my heart, and I am convinced that I am among the chosen people, not the choosy people! So I'm not going to try to defend Arminianism. I believe that in light of what the Lord has shown me in His Word, both doctrines (free-will and limited atonement) are merely philosophical attempts by men to try to make the Word of God conform to their own understandings. I have the utmost respect for what these men accomplished in their life, but we must realize that there is an enormous temptation to philosophize beyond the Word of God once the end of our understanding is reached! I will use only one verse to disprove limited atonement:
...that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. (1 Tim 4:10 NIV)
This one verse alone, though there are many others, completely destroys this doctrine! Do you see why? The entire basis of limited atonement is that God is NOT the Savior of all men, but that He is ONLY the Savior of the Christians (those who believe)! But here we read in the Word that God is the Savior of everyone, not just the chosen, but all mankind! Wow! That shakes up your theology a bit doesn't it!? There is no way that this Scripture can mean anything else, since every potential category of person in the history of the world is included! If you read a verse that says, for instance:
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 John 4:14 NIV)
Then you can convince yourself that the 'world' in this case is only the 'world of believers' since it is not directly stated otherwise. So the verse could be rewritten like this:
...the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the believers.
This is not directly contradictory, so it could work. But if you try to do that with 1 Timothy 4:10:
that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all believers, especially those who believe.
This is obviously wrong! This verse can only mean one thing; that God is the Savior of everyone, especially the Christians. And this, by the way, proves that John meant exactly what he said; God sent Jesus to be the Savior of the whole world.
Does that mean that he is only potentially the Savior of everyone, but that He will only save the believers? Not at all! If that's true then God failed, for He sent his Son to be the Savior of the world and I just proved that He meant the WHOLE WORLD. If Jesus does not save the world, then both He and the Father are failures, and our faith is in vain! Do you believe that God will fail in His purpose to be the Savior of all men? God looks down on mankind, shrugs and says; 'Well I tried to save you but Satan was just too strong for me?!' Of course not!!! God is not like us! When He says He's going to do something, He does it, and no power in the universe can stop Him from getting it done!! In fact all the powers that try to oppose Him will end up being used to fulfill His purpose in the end. It's pretty hard to beat an opponent that wrote the rules, created the players and knows the future! Especially when He Himself is fighting against you! Satan, death, and sin are the enemies of God, trying desperately to enslave and destroy mankind. If even one human being ends up in a place of eternal torment, then Satan, death, and sin are the victors. I, for one, believe that God will be victorious in the end, how about you?
CF