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Is Universal Atonement True? (4)

This issue, we continue our critique of unlimited atonement by considering several parties for whom Jesus must have died if this theory were true.

(10) If Christ died for all, He must have died for Cain as well as Abel, Nimrod as well as Noah, Balaam as well as Moses. This holds good for nations too. Christ must have ransomed not only Israel but also the Amalekites (Ex. 17:14-16), the Canaanites (Josh. 11:20), the Amorites  (including Sihon; Deut. 2:30), the Philistines (including Goliath) and the Edomites (Mal. 1:2-5).  He must even have offered Himself a sacrifice for Pharoah (Ex. 4:21; Rom. 9:17) and the Egyptians (Ex. 14:17), even though no provision was made for the application of lamb's blood upon their lintels.

(11) If Christ died for all men, then it follows that he was crucified to save the "man of sin" (II Thess. 2:3) who "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is God, or that is worshipped" (4). This man is the culmination of the working of the "mystery of iniquity" (7), the one who works with "all deceivableness of unrighteousness" (10) whose "coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (9). Is it possible that the Father sent Christ to die for Satan's man, the "man of sin" and "son of perdition" (3), the one wholly characterized by iniquity and eternal destruction? Is it possible that the eternal, omniscient God sent His Son to reconcile the lawless one whom He has ordained will be destroyed by the "spirit of [Christ's] mouth" and "the brightness of His coming" (8)?

II Thessalonians 2 also speaks of the followers of the man of sin. They reject the truth and the son of perdition deceives them, and therefore both parties are guilty (10). But we also read that "God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned" (11-12). If God loved them and sent Christ to die for them and wants to save them, then why does He send them strong delusion in order thatthey should believe the lie in order that they all might be damned?
Similarly, a death of Christ for absolutely everybody presents Christ as offering Himself as a sacrifice for the beast and the false prophet whom we are told shall be "cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Rev. 19:20). Moreover, 'Whosoever was not found written in the book of life [will be] cast into the lake of fire" (20:15). If Christ died for them, His ransom did nothing to free them from eternal punishment.

(12) In His public ministry Jesus spoke of the unpardonable sin: 'Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matt. 12:32). Nor was Jesus merely speaking here in the abstract; some of His hearers that day had committed that sin (22-37). Jesus knew, therefore, that some people, including these Pharisees (24), could not be forgiven. What sense then is there in Jesus dying for the redemption and forgiveness (Eph. 1:7) of those who absolutely cannot be forgiven? If there are some people whom He 'Will not at all acquit" (Nah. 1:3), why would Christ die to establish a basis for their acquittal?

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Additional Info

  • Volume: 8
  • Issue: 25
Stewart, Angus

Rev. Angust Stewart (Wife: Mary)

Ordained - 2001

Pastorates: Covenant Protestant Reformed Church of Ballymena, Northern Ireland - 2001

Website: www.cprf.co.uk/

Contact Details

  • Address
    7 Lislunnan Road
  • City
    Ballymena
  • State or Province
    Co.Antrim
  • Zip Code
    BT42 3NR
  • Country
    Ireland
  • Telephone
    (01144) 28 25 891851
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