Subject: Sovereignty and Free-Will |
Bible Note: "The Bible says Christ takes away the sin of the world and is Savior of the world. A study of the word ‘world’--especially in John, where it is used seventy-eight times--shows that the world is God-hating, Christ-rejecting, and Satan-dominated. Yet this is the world for which Christ died. There is not one place in the entire New Testament where ‘world’ means ‘church’ or ‘the elect,’ as many Calvinists insist. Considering the unequivocal force of such evidence, there is absolutely no logical reason to deny that when the text says ‘world’ it means ‘world,’ and everybody in it." (Grace of God, Will of Man; p. 80.) on John 3:16, Calvin said: ". . . The Heavenly Father loves the human race, and wishes that they should not perish.''11 Concerning the term whosoever in the same verse, he said: "And he has employed the universal term whosoever, both to invite all indiscriminately to partake of life, and to cut off every excuse from unbelievers. Such is also the impact of the term world, which he formerly used; for though nothing will be found in the world that is worthy of the favour of God, yet he shows himself to be reconciled to the whole world, when he invites all men without exception to the faith of Christ, which is nothing else than an entrance into life.'' John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1949), I, p. 125 . The fact is the limited view was not popularly held until the Synod of Dort (1619) and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) long after Calvin’s death "The Term "Limited Atonement" Really Means Limited Love, Limited Grace of God, and So Slanders God, and Is Unscriptural" (source unknown) |