Bible Question:
Before I ask my question, I would first like to provide you with some personal back-ground information concerning myself. When I first received Christ into my heart and life, God instilled within me a hunger and a thirst to read His written word. I just couldn't get enough of it. I began attending a Reformed church, and adopted all their beliefs as my beliefs. I read Calvin, and others of the reformed faith, and was in unity with their thinking. But the more I read God's word and allowed God's Holy Spirit to teach me from His word, the harder and harder it became for me to any longer accept the teachings of Calvinism represented within TULIP. Today I especially have trouble accepting the "L" of TULIP which stands for "Limited Atonement" So my question is: Do you personally believe "Limited Atonement is Bibical, or not? And why not. What Scripture do you use to support your beliefs. I know this is a highly and hotly debated topic, but I think it is one that with some discipline on our part, can be fairly discussed In Christ zach† |
Bible Answer: Greetings Zach†! In respect to my many brothers who differ on this issue, I do not believe that Limited Atonement is a Biblical doctrine. Some of the verses which illustrate an unlimited atonement are: 1) John 1:29 - "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" 2) John 3:16-17 - "‘‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." 3) John 12:47 - "‘‘As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it." 4) 1 John 2:2 - "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." 5) 2 Peter 2:1 - "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." 6) Romans 5:6 - " You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." 7) 2 Cor. 5:14-19 - " For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 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. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." 8) 2 Peter 3:9 - "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 9) 1 Tim. 2:3-4 - "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." 10) 1 Tim. 2:6 - " who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time." 11) Heb. 2:9 - "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." Note: The list of Scriptures above was taken from Norman Geisler's book, "Chosen but Free: A Balanced View of Election", pp. 200-211). The usual approach to these verses is to say that "all" doesn't really mean "all", and "everyone" doesn't really mean "everyone", and "world" doesn't really mean "world", but only the "elect". In contrast, I can't think of a single verse which says that Christ did not die for all! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |