The Divine Intention of the Cross (Part 4)

Continued from part 3

I ended the last post on this theme by recommending John Owen’s book “The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.” It is a majestic work. Though written many decades ago, I believe the arguments presented there remain unrefuted.

Here’s what we need to think through. If we as Christians believe that Christ really did make an atonement for sin… if we believe He made an actual rather than a merely hypothetical atonement that really did remove the wrath of God on behalf of sinners, then we need to think through the logical consequences of that.

As John Owen makes clear in the book, if Christ made an actual atonement for sin, then by resistless logic, the following must therefore be true:

“The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:

1) All the sins of all men.
2) All the sins of some men, or
3) Some of the sins of all men.

In which case it may be said:

That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved.

That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth.
But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?

You answer, “Because of unbelief.”

I ask, “Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it is, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!”

Continue reading

Understanding 2 Peter 2:1

Question: Pastor John, I have very much enjoyed reading your insights in the series “The Divine Intention of the Cross” but while I do not deny what you have written, still have a lingering question. In 2 Peter 2:1 it speaks of false teachers who deny the Master that “bought them.” Is this not a clear verse teaching universal atonement – that Christ died for everyone?

Thanks for your question. 2 Peter 2:1 reads:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

In this passage, Peter is giving a warning to the church in just the same way that Paul and Jude do elsewhere. The message is that false teachers will arise seeking to steer God’s people into error – such error in fact, that they are called destructive or “damnable heresies.” (KJV)

Some false teachings are worse than others. It is never good to miss the mark on any theological point, but there are some errors that are so bad, they cross the line between orthodoxy and heresy to the point that if they are believed, they damn the soul. These are big issues rather than small ones: things such as the deity of Christ (Jesus said, “unless you believe that I AM you will die in your sins” John 8:24); the Gospel itself (Gal. 1:8,9); or the denial that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4).

So Peter is writing to alert God’s people concerning the false prophets who will inevitably come in amongst the flock. Old Testament history often records the fact that God’s people have endured far more grief from the enemy within rather than the enemy without. God, in His wisdom, has allowed many false prophets and teachers to have a voice, while always protecting His elect people from their deception.

Jesus in fact made similar warnings. In Matthew 24: 24 we read, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” Thankfully, the “if possible” statement alerts us to the fact it is not possible for God’s elect people to be deceived by these false christs and false prophets. The elect will not fall for the grandiose worldwide deception, but not because of their great natural wisdom and insight, but because God preserved them as His elect people. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him and a stranger they will not follow (John 10). Continue reading

The Divine Intention of the Cross (Part 3)

…namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

“Taste death for everyone….” Surely “everyone” means everyone, right?

Well usually, yes, but not always. This in fact has to be determined by the context in which the words are spoken. For example, if a teacher asks his class of students, “Is everyone present?” he is not asking if everyone on the planet is present in the room, but rather all the students enrolled in the class. Context is key. That’s how the word “everyone” is used. Context determines what is meant by the words.

The question in Hebrews 2:9 is whether “everyone” refers to all human beings without distinction, or whether it refers to everyone within a certain group (as in the above illustration, “everyone” of the students enrolled in the class).

To determine the answer to that question, lets now read Hebrews 2: verses 9 -10 together: Continue reading

Star Size Comparisons

Psalm 8:3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

David, the Psalmist, understood far less about the Universe than we do in the 21st century, and yet he knew enough to be able to make the connection between the observable heavens and the astonishing fact that God is actually interested in us. Of course, He is more than interested. But why? What on earth is of interest to God?

David asked the question this way, “What is man that You think of him?” Its a question God never answers for us in Scripture. He never tells us why He loves us. Yet, for reasons known only to God, He has decided to set His love on us, and to redeem a vast number of former rebels and despisers of His, out of every tribe, tongue, people group and nation (Rev 5:9), giving them salvation and endless joy in His presence forever! God actually entered into our world and became a man, so that He could be the Savior of men. The fact that “Christ came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15) is something that should overwhelm and amaze us. Why would He even bother with us? What is man that He even remembered how to find us, let alone would come to save us? In considering the vastness of the heavens, let us, like David, be humbled and amazed that God thinks of us and loves us.

The Divine Intention of the Cross (Part 2)

offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Did Christ’s sacrifice perfect for all time everybody on the planet (past, present and future)? Surely not, unless we believe in universalism (that everyone will be saved).

In John 15, Jesus taught us that true love can be seen in laying a life down for friends:
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you…

In Galatians 2:20, Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Can a non Christian affirm that like Paul, he was crucified with Christ? Surely not! Continue reading

Miscellaneous Quotes (4)

A day is coming when banknotes will be as useless as rags, and gold will be as worthless as the dust of the earth. A day is coming when thousands will care nothing for the things for which they once lived, and will desire nothing so much as the things which they once despised. The mansions and palaces will be forgotten in the desire of a “house not made with hands.” The favor of the rich and great will be remembered no more, in the longing for the favor of the King of kings. The silks, and satins, and velvets, and laces, will be lost sight of in the anxious need of the robe of Christ’s righteousness. All will be altered, all will be changed in the great day of the Lord’s return. – Bishop J. C. Ryle, Practical Religion pg. 40 Continue reading

A Christmas letter to my 14 year old son

Here’s a letter I wrote to my son this Christmas:

Christmas 2010

Dear Son,

This is a letter that attempts to explain some of your Christmas presents this year. I will try not to make it too long. I will be writing separately to each of your siblings, but this letter is especially for you.

I love you very much and I am extremely proud to be your Dad. I still vividly remember the day of your birth. You will only comprehend what I felt, should God in His grace give you children of your own. I pray that you will experience this same joy. When I saw you for the first time, it was the proudest moment of my life. I have since had the joy of seeing 3 other children born into this world and with each one, the same overwhelming emotion filled my heart.

One of the things about life is that with great privilege comes great responsibility, and because it is an amazing privilege to be a father, with it comes the responsibility of being a good one. The Bible tells parents, especially fathers, to bring their children up in the ways of God. There is a passage in Ephesians 6 and it says, “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Continue reading

I admit it. I am just not good enough!

I fail the test of being good. I have failed it every day I have lived. Oh, on a vertical level, I am a little nearer to God’s standard of goodness than some. I have not killed anyone (outwardly at least). Compared to mass murderers like Hitler or Stalin, I guess I am doing quite well, but I am still so far short of God’s standard that I am not even close to measuring up! That’s right, not even close!

You see, Jesus never taught that my fellow man was the standard. He never said, “do better than Hitler and you will be fine.” The standard is the perfection of God’s character, His absolute holiness and majestic glory. The standard is a life lived in full devotion to God, loving Him with all the heart, soul, mind and strength and loving others as I love myself.

You see, not only have I failed in terms of bad words, thoughts and deeds each day, I have failed by even attempting to gain right standing with God by the things I do. Even the “good” things I have done have been tainted by motivations that were never 100% pure. I never did anything motivated entirely by the glory of God alone – not 100% anyway. My good works are filthy before God, not just my sins. Continue reading

Assuming Grace

Dr. R. C. Sproul: “I wonder if we really are amazed by grace? I think we express more amazement at God’s wrath than at His mercy. We’ve come to the place, I think, in our religious thinking where we assume that God will be merciful, that God will be kind, that God will be gracious, and so we’re not surprised whenever we experience His kindness. . .

One of my favorite illustrations about the dilemma that we face with respect to understanding God’s mercy goes back to the early days of my career as a teacher in college and seminary. One of my first teaching assignments was to teach 250 freshmen a required course on “Introduction to the Old Testament.”

Here I had 250 students assembled in a large lecture hall, very uncomfortable, trying to communicate with so many students at one time. I had to print up in advance the requirements for the course because I’d already learned, very quickly, that college students are all budding Philadelphia lawyers. You have to “dot your i’s and cross your t’s” to make sure that the assignments are clearly set forth. I gave them a published syllabus and told them what their requirements would be. Continue reading

John 3:16 – Pas ho pisteuwn – ‘everyone believing’ not ‘all can believe’

Yesterday on the blog here, I posted an article on John 3:16. For those who would like more detail on the original Greek text I would point you to this video (below) by Dr. James White. Dr. White is a critical consultant on the New American Standard Bible and an acknowledged scholar of New Testament Greek having taught it at the seminary level.

Also on this theme of John 3:16 and what it actually teaches, here’s a video by Jim McClarty of salvationbygrace.org: