Divine Sovereignty in Proverbs (2)

Man’s plans cannot alter God’s purpose. What he wills, he will do.

Man makes his plans, but what God has determined to do is irrevocably unalterable. Regardless of what man may desire to do, the sovereign will of the Lord will stand:

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lordthat will stand. —Proverbs 19:21

Man makes his plans, but God’s eternal purpose will prevail. In His sovereignty, God will alter man’s plans when they conflict with His will. The purpose of the Lord, Waltke notes, refers to “God’s immutable will.” His divine plan, determined before time began, endures forever. As for man’s plans, “God can make them successful or cancel them or bring about the reverse of what people intend. Even the best human plans and efforts cannot stand before Him if He does not will it.” People have many plans, but the Lord’s counsel or purpose will stand.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 152–153.

Divine Sovereignty in Proverbs

There is no such thing as luck, and there are no random occurrences.

God rules the universe, both in the whole and in its smallest parts. Even the tiniest occurrences in this world, events that seem random, are under God’s directional control:

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. —Proverbs 16:33

Even the smallest occurrences in life fit perfectly into the larger picture of God’s eternal purpose. Nothing is accidental or random. Everything is intentional and purposeful, carried out with divine design. Bridges writes that the casting of the lot “is an acknowledgment of absolute Sovereignty; giving up our personal responsibility, and virtually appealing to an Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent God. It teaches us, that things that we conceive to be accident are really under Providence. ‘What is chance to man is the appointment of God.’” Simply put, even things that may appear to be chance occurrences are, in fact, under God’s control.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 152.

Preserving Grace in Psalms

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Romans 3:38–39

The righteous are kept forever secure by God, both in this life and throughout all eternity. Not one of God’s saints will ever perish:

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. . . . For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. —Psalm 37:23–28

In this wisdom psalm, David explains that the Lord guards the righteous. Though the saints may fall into sin, they will never fall from grace. Instead, they will be upheld by God and made to stand forever. VanGemeren comments, “The Lord establishes the godly, even in times of adversity. He may ‘stumble’, either by sinning or by being jealous of the wicked or by the traps laid by the wicked, but he will not fall. . . . The ground for all the blessings is the love of God. He loves ‘the just’ and therefore will never forsake ‘his faithful ones.’ . . . Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:38–39).” [The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, 302.] God permanently holds the saints in His hand, and will never allow them to slip through His sovereign grip. He will preserve them forever.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 147–148.

Sovereign Election in Psalms

God’s sovereign choice of his people guarantees more than their eternal destination. Election guarantees their sanctification here and now, as well.

Out of the mass of sinful humanity, God has set apart a chosen people for Himself. Each of these elect individuals will become increasingly godly:

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lordhears when I call to him. —Psalm 4:3

David teaches here that God “sets apart” the godly, an act that is synonymous with divine election. This choice was made before time began, and guarantees that all God’s chosen ones will be sanctified and become godly within time. God does not elect a person because he or she is godly, but in order that the person might become godly. Spurgeon comments upon this verse, “The godly are the chosen of God, and are, by distinguishing grace, set apart and separated from among men. Election is a doctrine which unrenewed men cannot endure, but nevertheless, it is a glorious and well-attested truth, and one which should comfort the tempted believer. Election is the guarantee of complete salvation, and an argument for success at the throne of grace. He who chose us for Himself will surely hear our prayers.”

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 144.

Radical Depravity in Psalms

The unconverted are inwardly corrupt, a condition that causes them to commit deeds of sin continually. Because of this inward evil bent, they fail to seek after God:

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. The Lordlooks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. —Psalm 14:1b–3

In these verses, the psalmist records the Lord’s estimation of the human race: All the sons of men are corrupt. They all do abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. This sober evaluation is based upon the Lord’s omniscient observation from heaven of the hearts and lives of all people. All He sees is radical depravity in every unconverted life. Spurgeon writes, “Where there is enmity to God, there is deep, inward depravity of mind. The words are rendered by eminent critics in an active sense, ‘they have done corruptly;’ this may serve to remind us that sin is not only in our nature passively as the source of evil, but we ourselves actively fan the flame and corrupt ourselves, making that blacker still which was black as darkness itself already. We rivet our own chains by habit and continuance.”

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 141.

Divine Sovereignty in Psalms

God reigns supreme in the heavens, and His plans never change from one generation to the next. From everlasting to everlasting, His eternal counsel remains the same:

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. —Psalm 33:11

In this verse, David refers to “the counsel of the Lord,” which is the eternal deliberation and decree of God, formed in eternity past, by which He made the irrevocable choice of His all-wise will. No matter what man may attempt, the eternal counsel of the Lord will be sustained unwaveringly from one generation to the next. In fact, nothing that any being can do will alter or subvert it. God’s divine purposes remain immutable and unalterable from age to age. Commenting on this text, Albert Barnes writes, “There can be no superior counsel or will to change it, as is the case with the plans of men; and no purposes of any beings inferior to himself—angels, men, or devils—can affect, defeat, or modify His eternal plans. No changes in human affairs can impede His plans; no opposition can defeat them; no progress can supersede them. . . . The things which he has designed, or which He intends shall be accomplished. . . . The plans of God are not changed by the passing off of one generation and the coming on of another; by new dynasties of kings, or by the revolutions that may occur in states and empires.” All of human history moves forward toward its divinely appointed end under the absolute control of God.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 136.

Radical Depravity in Job (2)

All men are inwardly impure and unrighteous. Because they are unclean in their hearts, sin abounds in their lives:

“What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight; how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water!” —Job 15:14–16

Man’s moral problem is that the inner corruption of his life runs much deeper than mere external actions. His problem is what he is. His inner nature and personal character are defiled by sin. His fallen heart actively lusts for iniquity, so that he drinks sin like water. Of this insatiable thirst for sin, Thomas Watson writes, “Like a hydropsical person, that thirsts for drink, and is not satisfied; they have a kind of drought on them, they thirst for sin. Though they are tired out in committing sin, yet they sin. . . . Though God has set so many flaming swords in the way to stop men in their sin, yet they go on in it; which all shows what a strong appetite they have to the forbidden fruit.” It must be acknowledged that in the heights of heaven even a host of angels fell into sin. How much more have the sons of Adam on earth rebelled.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 127–128.

Divine Sovereignty in Judges

That God not only uses but also directs evil for his purpose is a difficult doctrine for many. But Scripture is filled with examples of God doing so. Evil men, in spite of themselves, serve him.

Divine sovereignty also was seen in God’s exercise of supreme control over human affairs, even over evil kings. By the free exertion of His supreme will, God strengthened an evil king to do evil:

The Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. —Judges 3:12b–13

According to this passage, God may strengthen unbelievers to enable them to defeat His people for His own purposes. Thus, God uses unholy people to accomplish His holy plans for the good of His people. Explaining this truth, Matthew Henry states, “God made them know that He had a variety of rods wherewith to chastise them: He strengthened Eglon king of Moab against them. . . . Here was another king of Moab, whom God strengthened against them, put power into his hands, though a wicked man, that he might be a scourge to Israel. The staff in his hand with which he beat Israel was God’s indignation.” In short, God’s sovereign control extends even to unbelievers, whom He may use for His higher purposes.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 107–108.

Demonic activity is also under divine control.

In His sovereignty, God also exercised absolute authority over a demon spirit and used it to accomplish His own purposes:

Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, —Judges 9:22–23

Here, God was revealed as controlling an evil spirit to accomplish His all-wise purposes. Even evil spirits, then, are subservient to God’s sovereign will. At His own discretion, God may send demon spirits to perform His holy pleasure. Noted commentator C. F. Keil writes, “Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, so that they became treacherous towards Him. ‘An evil spirit’ is not merely ‘an evil disposition,’ but an evil demon, which produced discord and strife, just as an evil spirit came upon Saul. . . . This evil spirit God sent to punish the wickedness of Abimelech and the Shechemites.” All this demonic activity was orchestrated by the sovereignty of God.

—Ibid., 108.

Radical Depravity in Job

Man is pervasively unclean in the depths of his being. What is more, there is absolutely nothing that he can do to make himself clean:

“Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.” —Job 14:4

Job asked a penetrating question that he quickly answered. No one can bring clean works that are acceptable to God out of an unclean life. Every good work a person does is tainted by sin to some extent. Pointing back to the problem of original sin, Barnes writes, “As a historical record, this passage proves that the doctrine of original sin was early held in the world. Still it is true that the same great law prevails, that the offspring of woman is a sinner—no matter where he may be born, or in what circumstances he may be placed.” The pervasiveness of radical depravity has polluted the entire inner life of fallen man.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 127.

Divine Sovereignty in Job

The entire narrative of Job is a declaration of God’s sovereignty. Within that narrative are many examples of his sovereign power, of which this is one:

By His sovereignty, God has determined the precise number of days and months each person will live upon this earth. Nothing can circumvent the lifespans allotted by God according to His sovereign will:

“His days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.” —Job 14:5

Even when life appears to be out of control, as it certainly did to Job, God remains in complete control. This transcendent truth is evidenced by the fact that the duration of a man’s life upon this earth remains fixed in the unchanging, eternal plan of God. Henry writes, “Three things we are here assured of—(1.) That our life will come to an end; our days upon earth are not numberless, are not endless, no, they are numbered, and will soon be finished, Dan. 5:26. (2.) That it is determined, in the counsel and decree of God, how long we shall live and when we shall die. The number of our months is with God. . . . It is certain that God’s providence has the ordering of the period of our lives; our times are in His hand. . . . (3.) That the bounds God has fixed we cannot pass; for His counsels are unalterable, His foresight being infallible.” What Henry writes is absolutely true. Despite the uncertainty of life, we must acknowledge that God has decreed the number of our months, having set limits that we cannot exceed.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 125.

A Strong Message

There is no stronger message than the truths of God’s sovereignty in the doctrines of grace. No other message is more God-exalting and Christ-glorifying than these truths. And yet, no other announcement is as sin-exposing, pride-crushing, and self-denouncing as these five theological points. No other truths are as sweet and precious to the soul that is humbled and submissive, but no other message is more offensive to the flesh or abrasive to the carnal mind than these doctrines. In fact, this message is unbearable to the natural man—just as it is sometimes intolerable even to those who are saved.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 103.

Strong Men

Strong men always proclaim a strong message. They do not read the polls and check the surveys before they give their opinions. In fact, they do not even have opinions—they have convictions. They bleed convictions. They are strong men anchored in the strong Word of God, and, as such, they bring a message with gravitas and punch. When they stand to speak, they actually have something to say—and they say it, whether anyone listens or not. When they sit to write, they do not skirt the issues—they tackle them. When they address the times in which they live, they do not tickle ears—they box them. They do not have one message for one group and a different message for a different group. Wherever they go and whomever they address, they have only one message—God’s message. This is what makes them strong men. They speak God’s Word, or they do not speak at all.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 103.

Irresistible Call in Deuteronomy

In Deuteronomy, Moses also taught the fourth main heading of the doctrines of grace—God’s irresistible call. Hundreds of years before Moses, God commanded Abraham to circumcise all the males in his household. For Israel, circumcision was a picture of what God must do to the unconverted heart. In the new birth, God must circumcise the sin-hardened heart if sinful man is to love Him with saving faith. By a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit, God must cut deeply into the unconverted heart and supernaturally set it apart to Himself. This is the omnipotent work of the Spirit in regeneration. Again, then, we see that God is the sole initiating cause of regeneration. Man is passive while God is active in this vital step in the process of salvation:

“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love theLord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” —Deuteronomy 30:6

Moses presented God’s sovereign work of grace as a spiritual circumcision, a cutting away of the foreskin of the unbelieving heart. It is a penetrating work of grace that removes man’s inability to believe and replaces it with true repentance and faith. Regeneration is open-heart surgery, a soul-reviving work of the Spirit that probes to the deepest level of a person’s being. Concerning this work of regeneration, Anthony Hoekema writes, “What does the Bible teach about regeneration? Already in the Old Testament we are taught that only God can bring about the radical change which is necessary to enable fallen human beings again to do what is pleasing in His sight. In Deuteronomy 30:6 we find our spiritual renewal figuratively described as a circumcision of the heart. . . . Since the heart is the inner core of the person, the passage teaches that God must cleanse us within before we can truly love Him.”

Explaining the irresistible nature of this divine work, Craigie writes, “It is seen rather to be an act of God and thus indicates the new covenant, when God would in His grace deal with man’s basic spiritual problem. When God ‘operated’ on the heart, then indeed the people would be able to love the Lord and live.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 97–98

Definite Atonement in Numbers

The only saving remedy for man’s helpless state in sin is the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Upon the cross, the Lord Jesus became sin for His people so that they might receive salvation in Him. This substitutionary death was prefigured in the wilderness in the bronze serpent that God told Moses to make and put upon a pole. It was a saving remedy not intended for the surrounding nations of the world, but exclusively for Israel. If the people of God would look, they would be saved:

Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. —Numbers 21:6–9

By His grace, God provided a saving remedy for the sinning Israelites who had been bitten by the fiery serpents He had sent in His judgment. These poisonous snakes administered a lethal bite that ministered death—a picture of the deadly venom of sin. But God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a standard. When it was raised up, all who looked to it by faith were saved. According to Christ’s own words, this bronze serpent was a picture of His vicarious death upon the cross (John 3:14–15). It portrayed the necessity of looking to Christ in personal, saving faith for salvation. Seeing this intended connection between the bronze serpent and Christ, James Montgomery Boice writes, “In the same way, we are to look to Christ’s cross. We have been bitten by sin, as they were bitten. We are dying of sin, as they were dying. God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin that we might believe on Him and not perish. . . . This is the heart of Christianity. God has provided salvation for you in Jesus Christ.” Upon the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ became sin for all who will believe upon Him. The bronze serpent was not intended for the Canaanites or the Egyptians, who lived and died in unbelief. Rather, it was exclusively for God’s people, who looked and lived. So it is with the death of Christ. He died for His people, for all who would put their trust in Him.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 92–93.

Definite Atonement in Leviticus

I can’t help wondering: how do those who object to the doctrine of Definite (or, as in the TULIP, Limited) Atonement deal with the very specific and limited atonement provided by the Levitical priesthood?

The high priest of Israel alone entered the Holy of Holies to represent God’s people. His intercession for Israel pictured the particular death of Christ on behalf of the elect of God:

“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil. . . . Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins.” —Leviticus 16:15–16

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest of Israel entered behind the veil into the Holy of Holies. As he approached, “he carried with him on his shoulders the badge and the engraved stones that were representative of the Twelve Tribes” of Israel. As he stepped into the Holy of Holies, he was representing the people of God—not the Canaanites, Egyptians, or Babylonians. He ministered on behalf of those chosen by God, making atonement for their sin. All this prefigured the Lord Jesus Christ, who would be the High Priest exclusively for His people. It was not for the entire world that Christ made atonement, for if He had, all the world would be saved. Rather, Christ atoned for all who ultimately will be saved, those chosen by the Father. In eternity past, the names of the elect were etched upon Christ’s heart, and upon the cross the Father transferred their sins to Him. As the Great High Priest of God, Jesus stood before the Father on their behalf, not the world’s (John 17:9)

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 88–89.

Mercy of God in Election

Divine justice plays no part in sovereign election. It is all of God’s mercy.

God’s choice of undeserving sinners for salvation is an expression of His sovereign will and free grace. God does not owe salvation to any sinner. Saving grace is entirely unmerited; no sinful creature has any claim to it. All that sinful man rightly deserves is divine condemnation. So the lost human race desperately needs what it does not deserve. But because grace is a gift, God is free to bestow it upon whom He pleases without violating His justice. As He is absolutely sovereign, He chooses which sinners He will save:

“I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” —Exodus 33:19b

In this passage, God says nothing about His justice. He speaks only of His mercy. These two divine attributes—justice and mercy—belong to totally different categories. Election is always a matter of sovereign mercy, not justice. Without any obligation to bestow grace upon any individual, God shows Himself to be infinitely loving by choosing to show mercy upon some. Grasping the profundity of this verse, John MacArthur writes, “God is absolutely sovereign and does elect who will be saved without violating His other attributes. He determines who receives mercy.” Albert Barnes adds, “Jehovah declares His own will to be the ground of the grace which He is going to show the nation. St. Paul applies these words to the election of Jacob in order to overthrow the self-righteous boasting of the Jews (Rom. 9:15).” The point is clear—God chooses by sovereign mercy whom He will save.

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 80.

God Clothed Them

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

—Genesis 3:21*

Steve Lawson comments on the “symbolic picture of the future death of Christ for His chosen ones” seen in the passage above:

The Lord Himself killed an innocent animal and made coverings for the nakedness and guilt of Adam and Eve. This was the first death in God’s newly created world—a slain sacrifice. This animal was killed at the hands of God Himself, and He provided its skin freely for the first couple as an expression of His saving grace. Their garments of skin represented God’s provision for restoring Adam’s and Eve’s relationship with Himself. This bloody sacrifice pictured the coming of Christ into the world to redeem His people. God’s Son would be the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of His people (John 1:29, 36). His sacrifice alone would provide a covering for the exposed nakedness of Adam and Eve’s guilt.

In explaining this substitutionary death, Boice points out that it symbolized the shed blood and perfect righteousness of Christ. Boice writes: “In order to make clothes of skin, God had to kill animals. It was the first death Adam and Eve had witnessed, as far as we know. It must have seemed horrible to them and have made an indelible impression. ‘So this is what death is; this is what sin causes,’ they must have exclaimed. But even more important, the death of the animals must have taught them the principle of substitution, the innocent dying for the guilty, just as the innocent Son of God would one day die for the sins of those God was giving to him. When God clothed our first parents in the animals’ skins, Adam and Eve must have had at least a first faint glimmer of the doctrine of imputed righteousness. . . . God saved Adam and Eve from their sins by clothing them in the heavenly righteousness of Jesus Christ, which he symbolized by their being clothed with skins of animals.”

—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 64

"It may surprise you to learn that Scripture never once exhorts sinners to 'accept Christ'. The familiar twenty first century evangelistic appeal in all its variations {make a decision for Christ, ask Jesus into your heart, try Jesus, accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior} violates both the spirit and the terminology of the biblical summons to unbelievers. The Gospel invitation is not an entreaty for sinners to allow the Savior into their lives. It is both an appeal and a command for them to repent and follow Him. It demands not just passive acceptance of Christ but active submission to Him as well.

Those unwilling to surrender to Christ cannot recruit Him to be part of a crowded life. He will not respond to the beckoning of a heart that cherishes sin. He will not enter into partnership with one who loves to fulfill passions of the flesh. He will not heed the plea of a rebel who simply wants Him to enter and by His presence sanctify a life of continued disobedience.

The great miracle of redemption is not that we accept Christ, but that He accepts us. Conversion is not simply a sinner's decision for Christ, it is first the sovereign work of God in transforming the individual.
The portrait of Jesus in the Gospels is altogether different from the picture contemporary evangelicals typically imagine. Rather than a would-be redeemer who merely stands outside anxiously awaiting an invitation to come into unregenerate lives, the Savior described in the New Testament is God in the flesh, who invades the world of sinful humanity, challenging sinners to turn from their iniquity. Rather than waiting for an invitation, He issues His own - - - in the form of a command to repent and take on a yoke of submission.
We who witness for Christ are not ultimately responsible for how people respond to the Gospel. We are only responsible to preach it clearly and accurately, speaking the truth in love. Some will turn away, but it is God who either reveals the truth or keeps it hidden, according to what is well pleasing in His sight. His plan cannot be stymied. Though the Gospel according to Jesus may offend, its message must not be made more palatable by watering down the content or softening the hard demands. In God's plan, the elect will believe despite the negative response of the multitudes."

- John MacArthur

The Gospel According to Jesus

Evangelism and Atonement

We must not present the saving work of Christ apart from His Person. Evangelistic preachers and personal workers have sometimes been known to make this mistake. In their concern to focus attention on the atoning death of Christ, as the sole sufficient ground on which sinners may be accepted with God, they have expounded the summons to saving faith in these terms: ‘Believe that Christ died for your sins.’ The effect of this exposition is to represent the saving work of Christ in the past, dissociated from His Person in the present, as the whole object of our trust. But it is not biblical thus to isolate the work from the Worker. Nowhere in the New Testament is the call to believe expressed in such terms. What the New Testament calls for is faith in (en) or into (eis) or upon (epi) Christ Himself—the placing of our trust in the living Saviour, who died for sins.

The object of saving faith is thus not, strictly speaking, the atonement, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who made atonement. We must not in presenting the gospel isolate the cross and its benefits from the Christ whose cross it was. For the persons to whom the benefits of Christ’s death belong are just those who trust His Person, and believe, not upon His saving death simply, but upon Him, the living Saviour. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,’ said Paul. ‘Come unto me…and I will give you rest,’ said our Lord.

This being so, one thing becomes clear straight away: namely, that the question about the extent of the atonement, which is being much agitated in some quarters, has no bearing on the content of the evangelistic message at this particular point. … I am not at present asking you whether you think it is true to say that Christ died in order to save every single human being, past, present, and future, or not. Nor am I inviting you to make up your mind on this question, if you have not done so already. All I want to say here is that even if you think the above assertion is true, your presentation of Christ in evangelism ought not to differ from that of the man who thinks it false.

What I mean is this. It is obvious that if a preacher thought that the statement, ‘Christ died for every one of you,’ made to any congregation, would be unverifiable, and probably not true, he would take care not to make it in his gospel preaching. You do not find such statements in the sermons of, for instance, George Whitefield or Charles Spurgeon. But now, my point is that, even if a man thinks that this statement would be true if he made it, it is not a thing that he ever needs to say, or ever has reason to say, when preaching the gospel. For preaching the gospel, as we have just seen, means [calling] sinners to come to Jesus Christ, the living Saviour, who, by virtue of His atoning death, is able to forgive and save all those who put their trust in Him. What has to be said about the cross when preaching the gospel is simply that Christ’s death is the ground on which Christ’s forgiveness is given. And this is all that has to be said. The question of the designed extent of the atonement does not come into the story at all.

The fact is that the New Testament never calls on any man to repent on the ground that Christ died specifically and particularly for him. The basis on which the New Testament invites sinners to put faith in Christ is simply that they need Him, and that He offers Himself to them, and that those who receive Him are promised all the benefits that His death secured for His people. What is universal and all-inclusive in the New Testament is the invitation to faith, and the promise of salvation to all who believe. […]

The gospel is not, ‘believe that Christ died for everybody’s sins, and therefore for yours,’ any more than it is, ‘believe that Christ died only for certain people’s sins, and so perhaps not for yours.’ The gospel is, ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for sins, and now offers you Himself as your Saviour.’ This is the message which we are to take to the world. We have no business to ask them to put faith in any view of the extent of the atonement; our job is to point them to the living Christ, and summon them to trust in Him.

-J. I. Packer, Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God

For Whom Did Christ Die?

“Calvinists teach that [Limited Atonement] is necessary to preserve the two basic attributes of God, namely his justice and the integrity of his purposes. The argument goes like this: Suppose I were to owe you a thousand dollars but was unable to pay my debt. But a kind friend intervenes and pays you what I owe. But you still elicit a payment from me, asking that I pay every last cent. Would that be just? I think not. If my friend paid my debt, justice requires that I be free. The analogy is clear: if Christ’s sacrifice was for all men then either all men will be saved or God will be unfairly demanding from sinners what has already been paid. If Christ died for people who will be in hell, his justice is in jeopardy. How could a righteous God demand a double payment for the same debt?” – Erwin Lutzer