Subject: Is Limited Atonement Bibical? |
Bible Note: Zach: Some of the very verses you cite would be disastrous in themselves if we were to understand that "all" meant "each and every." Take 1 Corinthians 15:22. Is every human truly made alive because of what Christ did? That seems to smack of universalism. The unrepentant atheist, the Muslim, the Hindu, and the cultist are all made alive in Christ? Matthew 9:26 is another example. With God all things are possible. Is it possible for God to lie? (Numbers 23:19) Clearly Jesus is not saying that God can sin or not be all powerful or not be omniscient or all-wise or perfect. As we can see, there are all sorts of qualified "all's" in Scripture. It is a leap in logic, however, to say, if one reasonably concludes from the context that "all" does not mean "each and every" in one case that one can indiscriminately dismiss this use in all cases (and by that I DO mean "each and every case"). Paul spends the first 2.5 chapters of Romans elaborating how indeed each and every human being has sinned and falls short of God's glory. However, he does not teach universalism, so any reference to ALL being saved cannot mean that every single human being will be in Heaven. Therefore, the following statement you made does not logically follow: 'In each of the above verses the same Greek word "pas" is used, so to replace it in one verse would mean you have to replace it in all these verses.' The term "limited atonement" (I prefer "particular redemption" myself to avoid misunderstanding) means that His saving grace is limited in its SCOPE, not in its power or efficacy. In other words, Christ's sinless life, death, and resurrection accomplished completely and totally everything that the Triune God intended it to accomplish. What slanders God, in my opinion, is any view which says that God doesn't ultimately get His own way in every way with His creation. --Joe! |