Subject: Is Limited Atonement Bibical? |
Bible Note: Hi Again Zacht, I just wanted to get back to you with some final thoughts on your latest post to me. I am somewhat disturbed by your experiences with a particular reformed church, which I can not help but believe must have been an abberation. I am certain you can understand my desire to defend the reformed churches in general, especially because I have never heard of that sort of false teaching occuring before. (I do not deny your experience. Therefore, I would like to assure you and anyone else who may read this post, that this type of travisty of reformed teaching is not prevalent in my, or any other reformed church I am aware of. It is in direct opposition to The Westminster Confession of Faith. I happen to be involved in a class at this time which is studying the precepts of the Confession, and this one of the Q and A's: Question: Can the Church speak infallibly? If not then how can it speak with authority or value? Answer: No. Only God can speak infallibly. The Church speaks with value and authority when it declares the Word of God. You cited a verse in your post that was meant to prove "salvation has been made universally available to all". I am in hearty agreement with both C.H. Spurgeon and yourself in regards to a universal invitation. This however in no way repudiates Limited Atonement, but actually supports it. Let me explain why I believe this is so. A general invitation from God, thru His Church, goes out to all the world. However, not everyone accepts the invitation. Those who reject God's offer, in effect, deny themselves the opportunity to have their sins atoned for thru Christ's work on the cross. Those who accept the invitation recieve atonement for their sins. This proves the point I have been trying to make: Atonement is limited to the number of those who turn to Christ. If all the world had their sins atoned for, that would mean that there would be lost souls in Hell who are already reconciled to God by virtue of Christ's atoning sacrifice! Keep in mind that atonement is an effect that results from recieving Jesus Christ's sacrifice (the cause). One more thing: I don't think 2 Cor 5:15 is a good example for making the case that "all" means all mankind. Read in context, "all" is describing all who died in Christ (See the preceeding verse where the "all" in v.15 is identified). 2 Cor 5:14 "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died". Thanks for your patience, John |