The Deceived and Hell Bound Occupy the Majority of Today's Pews

This article is not promote Calvinism even though he and I do agree on much concerning the doctrines surrounding election. Whenever I am asked whether I am a Calvinist or not, I usually reply that I am a Christian and I do happen to agree on several of his tenets. At the same I am vehemently opposed to one certain doctrine he espoused that is held by many among us and will become the topic of an upcoming blog, Lord willing.

It is the 'L' in TULIP that I am addressing today - Limited Atonement. I have previously addressed this subject from a purely election point of view but today I want to bring to the Light the ten (10) scriptures that are constantly being used to promote the doctrine that Christ died; paid for every man's sins: past, present and future. You do realize the law of double-jeopardy in America (one cannot be tried twice for the same crime, if once pardoned) is based on biblical principles (cities of refuge) and found within both Greek and Roman law codes. If one's future sins have been eradicated (Micah 7:19 - "...thou wilt cast ALL their sins into the depths of the sea."), how is that one could believe that God may have overlooked some super-egregious sin that now negates His forgiveness? Doesn't sound like the God I serve nor could we with confidence say - " … for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against the day." 2 Timothy1:12

John 3:16 & 6:33,51 "..the world.."

Remember, the original documents were in either Hebrew or Greek and no matter what anyone should attempt to teach or preach on espousing the use of English only: we must consider what the Holy Spirit originally wrote via his holy men.

Did God love the "world"? It is interesting that the word (3:16) for "loved" is in the aorist tense which means at a single point in the past He loved the kosmos which is the Greek word used in this case and also in 6:33 & 51. Why did He not use anthropos if He were addressing mankind but instead use a word that includes all of creation including the heavens and the stars? In 6:33 & 51 it states that Jesus brought life - zoe (the spiritual versus the bios - the physical) into the world. Praise God for the world, man and the planet, were dead in our trespasses and sin. Per Romans 8:21, creation is looking forward to being delivered "..from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."

1 John 2:2 - "..the whole world.."

This strengthens the argument that not only is man suffering from a sin problem, but creation is in the same boat but not of its own volition: we are the culprits. John knew the meaning of kosmos and what we call the nature of things; survival of the fittest, fastest, biggest and whatever, is the result of sin. A sinless perfect world will not have earthquakes, tsunamis', cyclones, etc. nor will the beast of the field know fear, for death and decay will no longer reign over the new earth that is coming.

P.S. The phrase 'the sins of' in your bible should be in italics which means they were not in the original manuscripts. the kosmos does not sin, but suffers from the effect of man's sins not its own.

Everybody knows there will be a day of accountability and nothing deters a change from a wicked lifestyle to one of godliness than that of the false doctrine that God loves everyone, no matter how evil.

1 Timothy 2:6 - "..all.."

The key here is that Christ's ransom given was more than sufficient to cover all of mankind and creation, that there should be no deficiency evident in His sacrifice. The glory of His act of love and compassion cannot be lessened by man's ungrateful mindset toward our Savior, but shall become a nail in their coffins.

Isaiah 53:6 - "..of us all.."

The key word here is the pronoun 'us'. We must decide who the 'us' are and it is not 'them'. The Word is foolishness to the natural man - the unsaved; for it must be spiritually discerned. This was never written that an unregenerate soul should ever comprehend apart from a work of the Holy Spirit renewing our minds. Those of 'us' who came to Christ as adults fully understand that the Bible was just gibberish until that day the Light came on and is still shining brightly.

Romans 5:18 - "..upon all men.."

We must keep in mind the context of verses 18 and 19 and that the justification of life came unto all who were saved or to be saved: the many, not all, of verse 19. We have a history of picking only a portion of a scripture, taking a scripture out of context or just out-and-out bending the Word to meet our personal doctrines; these are common problems for all of us.

Hebrews 2:9 - "..taste death for every man."

As Hebrews 4:12 addresses the Word as a two-edged sword, so was the death of our Lord Jesus Christ; His death saves with one cut and destroys with another. The proverbial nail in the coffin again, so that all men will be without excuse. A man sacrifices himself in war to save his comrades-in-arms; the just and the unjust owe this man their life. Some will go on to be one who themselves live sacrificially while another will continue unaffected and live a life of evil. All will be without excuse.

2 Peter 2:1 - "..bought them.."

A classic case of bad grammar. Some believe the 'them' refers to the false teachers as being purchased by God. In fact, correct grammar, something our Lord knows full well, the pronoun is referring to the word 'people', the saved who live among the wolves in sheep's clothing. We must be careful and remember that these epistles were written as private letters to believers only and there is a world of difference between 'us' and 'them'.

One of my favorites but the " God loves everyone" crowd's most loved verse to butcher.

2 Peter 3:9 - "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

I have heard this so many times - "He is not willing that any should perish". Most people that quote this in church, a bible study or in a crowd probably do not know where this scripture is found nor what does the entire verse state. It is a dangerous habit to quote scripture and have no idea where it may be found, if it is the complete verse or the context; it shows a lack of concern for the Truth. People who want to believe one way only are not people who search the Word to come to a solid understanding but abuse the scriptures to suit themselves and justify their incomplete belief.

Again it is the grammar: the 'any' refers to the previous antecedent which happens to be 'us-ward'. A simple test is to replace the 'us-ward' with a proper noun such as Egyptians and recite the verse: "..is long-suffering towards Egyptians, not willing that any should perish...". It becomes very clear that 'any' does not refer the world's population but only to those who are saved or are going to be saved.

The moral of this story is this: know the Word, test the Word and seek the Truth above all else - that you will not become one who passes bad doctrine on or gives false hope to the lost!