Friday, July 20, 2018

Biblical refutation of "Limited Atonement"

      The reason why the doctrine of limited atonement is one of the most debated and contentious debates, is not because of emotion. It has been and always will be because Scripture. Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus died for the "sins" of all people. 

     Does Scripture teach Jesus died for everybody? Lets look at just one verse out of 12 that say yes He did.
"this is a trust worthy statement deserving of full acceptance, Christ came into the world to save sinners" -1 Timothy 1:15

The reason John Pipers Gospel begins with "Christ died for sinners" is because this verse. It begins with "this is a TRUSTWORTHY statement" so when Piper was asked about Limited Atonement, he was asked:"Can you tell anyone Christ died for YOU".He said;"That's not the New Testament Gospel. The New Testament Gospel is not Christ died for YOU, but Christ died for sinners"

      Now, within the same exact book of 1st timothy. 1st Timothy 4:9-10 we have the EXACT same terminology.

"9 This is a TRUSTWORTHY statement deserving of full acceptance 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe". -1st Timothy 4:9-10
   
Also within the book of 1st Timothy we get:

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as ransom for ALL"- 1 Timothy 2:5-6


      A proper interpretive method is to interpret a verse first within the same book, (but only after you get the hermenutical context ie;. Historical context), then you broaden you theology to the rest of the Bible.Now many will say that this specific verse "who gave Himself a ransom for ALL" that this "all" means all without distinction, not all without exception. Now, even though the response "all without distinction, not all without exception" is semantically meaningless. And makes this "all" mean "some" because they mean "SOME of all kinds" which makes the term "all" meaningless.

Now, if we are to use proper interpretive methods and to be honest and submit to Scripture. We will look at how "all" is used within 1st Timothy:.

All people are either unbelievers or believers. That statement I just said can not mean "all people without distinction, not all without exception, are either unbelievers or believers".No. Clearly I am saying "ALL PEOPLE WITHOUT EXCEPTION ARE EITHER UNBELIEVERS OR BELIEVERS"

Now when 1st Timothy 4:9-10 says "who is the Savior of ALL PEOPLE especially of believers". Paul, is making the only universal distinction between unbelievers and believers, so that he can encompass all people without exception. 

So, clearly within 1st Timothy Paul means "all people" when He says "all, all men, all people" within 1st Timothy. 

Back to my initial point. Because 1 Timothy 1:15 says "this is a TRUSTWORTHY statement deserving of full acceptance, Christ died to save sinners" since we take that strongly and hold it with force because of the force with which Paul uses TRUSTWORTHY. We need to be consistent and also believe that it is just as TRUSTWORTHY and deserving of full acceptance that Jesus is the Savior of all people especially of believers" as it says in 1st tim 4:9-10 in the same book, with the same writer, with the same force. 
And the reason being He is the savior of ALL PEOPLE is because He gave Himself as a RANSOM FOR ALL, meaning He died for the sins of ALL, Like John 1:12 says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of "the world" 

This does not necessitate universalism, it only necessitates that Jesus died for the sins of all people, and if you believe He rose from the dead and confess Him as Lord you will be saved.Jesus died for YOUR sins, believe and be ye saved.

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