WHO IS THIS MELCHISEDEC #20
September 17, 2000
Brian Kocourek
Wednesday evening we took our
text once again from paragraph 50 of Brother Branham's sermon, Who is this Melchisedec, where brother Branham
said, God's
sovereign in His choosing, did you
know that? God's sovereign.
And also for our text we
read from Jonah
2:9"Salvation is of the Lord" but the Lord does not save all. We asked the
question, Why not? Why does God save some and
he will not save others? Is it because of things they have done? Is it because
they are sinners, or maybe because they
are the worst of sinners?
I think not for the Apostle
Paul said in 1 Tim. 1:15"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief".
Therefore, if God saved the "chief"
of sinners, no one could be excluded because of their degree of sin.
Why then doesn't God save
everyone? Is it because some are so hardened in their heart, until they have a
heart of stone? No; because God said in Ezek. 11:19 "I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give
them a heart of flesh". Then is it because some are so
stubborn, so intractable, so defiant that God is unable to woo them to himself?
In the book of ROMANS 9:15 we
read, For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion. 16 So then [it is] not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will [have
mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth
he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art
thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed
[it], Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay,
of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22
[What] if God, willing to shew [his] wrath, and to make his power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Then it is not due to the
fact that God doesn't have the power, but it come down to choice, not yours but
His. If God is able to subdue your will
and win your heart, without doing it against your will, then is he not able to
do the same for others? Sure He can.
But does he want to, that is the question. It was the Lord who made you
willing as we see in Ps 110:3 Philippians
2:13; Why then doesn't He make all
sinners willing? Why, because God is sovereign and He will do as He pleases!
Well, then we know by God's
Own Word that all are not saved, but what about those who hear the Gospel? Why
are not all who hear the Gospel saved? Is it because some refuse to believe
what they hear concerning the Word of God? Well, that's only part of the
reason.
Is a man a thief because he
steals? Or is he a thief and therefore he steals. Does stealing make a man a
thief, or does he steal because he is a thief?
Proverbs 23:7 tell us, "as a man thinks in his heart so is he", then
what if his heart thinks only wicked things?
JEREMIAH 17: 9 The heart [is]
deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?10 I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the
reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the
fruit of his doings.
PSALMS 10:4 The wicked,
through the pride of his countenance, will not seek [after God]: God [is] not
in all his thoughts. Why is it that some believe and others do not
believe? What causes those who do believe, to believe, while others will not
believe?
Is it because the believer
is more intelligent than the unbeliever? Is it because we are so much better
than the rest? I don't think it has anything to do with us, but it has all to
do with God's choice.
1 Cor. 4:7 "Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory,
as if thou hadst not received it?". It is God himself who makes
the elect to differ from the non-elect.
How is it that we might understand while others, try that they might,
never seem to come to a knowledge of the truth?
MATTHEW 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it
is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them
it is not given.
1 John 5:20 "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that is true"
I JOHN 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not
of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with
us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not
all of us. 20 ¶ But ye have an
unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
You see, Faith is a
revelation, and Faith is God's gift, and we read in 2
Thess. 3:2 "all men have not faith";
therefore, God does not bestow this gift upon everyone. Upon whom then does he
bestow this saving Gift? The answer is upon his own elect as we see in Acts 13:48 — "As
many as were ordained to eternal life believed" Acts 13:48
And in Titus 1:1 it
is called "the faith of God's elect".
But is God partial in the distribution of his favors? has he not the right to
be? Are there still some who "murmur against the good man of the
house?" God is sovereign in the bestowment of his gifts, both in the
natural and in the spiritual realms.
1. The Role of the
Father as Sovereign in Salvation.
ISAIAH 43:11 I, [even] I, [am] the LORD; and beside me
[there is] no saviour.
HOSEA 13:4 Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of
Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside me.
I TIMOTHY 1:1 ¶
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour,
and Lord Jesus Christ, [which is] our hope;
I TIMOTHY 2:3 For this [is] good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
I TIMOTHY 4:10 For therefore we
both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the
Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
TITUS 1:3 But hath in due times manifested
his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the
commandment of God our Saviour;
4 To Titus, [mine] own son
after the common faith: Grace, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Now, how do we reconcile
these two scriptures? In One place Paul
tells us God is our Savior, and then the very next verse he says, the Lord
Jesus Christ is our savior? Well, this same Apostle told us that God was in
Christ reconciling the Word unto Himself, and if reconciling, then it was God
in Christ that was bringing us back to a place of fellowship, Hence God was
doing the redemption work in His Son Christ Jesus the Lord. Whom by the way God
hath made Him both Lord and Christ. Which means the One Who made Him Lord is the
same One Who anointed Him with His Spirit.
Anyway, let's turn to Romans
to see the sovereignty of the Father in salvation.
Rom. 9:21-23 — "hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump, to
make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to
show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the
riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto
glory?"
No other words have said it
like Paul said it in these verses of scripture. Plainly we should be able to see that God is totally sovereign
when it comes to salvation. He chooses whom He chooses, and Whom he rejects, He
rejects.
God is the creator f all
things, and as creator He destines each thing for a purpose. It just so happens
that some are destined to be burned while others are destined to receive Glory.
He chooses the difference in the respect to the destinations of which he assigns his creatures, for one vessel is
made "unto honor and another unto dishonor";
some are "vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction", while others are "vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory."
To accept this aspect of
God's sovereignty is very humbling and to behold all mankind in the hand of God
as the clay is in the potter's hand, has a very stifling effect upon the pride
of man, yet this is precisely how this Scriptural Truth represents the case. In
this day of human boasting, intellectual pride, and deification of man, the
fact remains, no matter what man might think he is capable of doing, he is most
incapable of saving himself. The real facts are, he is nothing more than clay
in the heavenly Potter's hands, and while we know that the Judge of all the
earth will do right, nevertheless, God shapes his vessels for his own purpose
and according to his own pleasure. He claims the indisputable right to do as he
wills with his own, and who is going to argue with Him about that?
Not only has God the right
to do as he wills with His creation, but he exercises that right, this is
plainly seen in predestination. Before the foundation of the world God made a
choice, a selection, an election, and He predestinated these chosen ones, "unto the
adoption of children", predestinated them "to be conformed to the image of his Son",
"ordained" them unto eternal
life. Many are the scriptures which set forth this blessed truth, seven of
which will now engage our attention.
"As many as
were ordained to eternal life, believed" Acts 13:48.
EPHESIANS 1:3 ¶
Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: 5 Having (past tense) predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the
good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fullness
of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are
in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him: 11 In whom also we have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should
be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also
[trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise,
Look, He does it all
according to his own Good pleasure and according to an Eternal purpose, which He purposed in Himself, and He didn't
need anyone else's opinion, and neither did He seek anyone else's opinion. In
fact, just so that we might plainly understand this, Paul let's us know that this
was all arranged before God created anything so we might fully appreciate that
this was all God's doing that saved you.
Wednesday night we looked at
Acts 13:48 "As many as were ordained to
eternal life, believed" and we broke it down this way.
Ø
First, that believing is the
consequence OF God's decree, and not the cause of His decree.
Ø
Second, that a limited number only
are "ordained to eternal life",
for if all men were ordained by God, then the words "as many as"
are a meaningless qualification.
Ø
Third, this "ordination" of God is to "eternal
life", not to service, but to salvation itself.
Ø
Fourth, that all — "as many as", means, not one less, not one
more —but only the specific number ordained to eternal Life by God will most
certainly believe.
ROMANS 11:2 ¶ God hath not cast away his people which he
foreknew. Know ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh
intercession to God against Israel, saying,
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and
I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself
seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to [the image of] Baal. 5 "Even so then at this present time
also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by
grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it
be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work".
Notice Pauls words
here, "I
have reserved to myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
Notice the use of the word "reserved." In the days of Elijah seven
thousand men were reserved, — a small minority — but these were divinely
preserved from idolatry and brought to the knowledge of the true God. This
preservation and illumination was not from anything in themselves, but solely
by God's special influence and agency. And Paul further states, Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace.
"A remnant according to the election of grace."
Here the cause of election is traced back to its source. The basis for which
God elected this "remnant" was
not based upon their faith, because if your faith is something which could find
merit with God, then your faith could be viewed as an act of works, no
different that sacrifice, or other good works.
Faith then would be something of the will or of the mind. That is why
Brother branham taught us that Faith is a revelation, something that has been
revealed to you, and if revealed to you then you didn't get it on your own, but
someone had to reveal it to you. AND THAT One is God Himself, through a
PROPHET.
1 Cor. 1:26-29 "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men
after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty: and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath
God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that
are: That no flesh should glory in his presence". Three times in this passage reference is made to
God's choice, and choice supposes
a selection, the taking of some and the leaving of others. The chooser is God himself.
Jesus said in John 15:16, "Ye
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you".
And there is a number
defined by Paul, — "not many
wise men after the flesh, not many noble", etc., which agrees with Matt. 20:16, " for
many be called, but few chosen."
Now, we said earlier that
God not only makes the decree but he also exercises that decree. In other
words, God not only spoke it but He uses His Omnipotent power to make sure it
happens.
PHILIPPIANS 1:6 Being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
PHILIPPIANS 2:13 For it is God
which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.
ISAIAH 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will
have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts,
neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it
bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the
eater: 11 So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I
sent it.
Now the question then
arises, How does God perform it. By what means does God use to bring about His
plan for our salvation?
Thess. 2:13 "But we
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification the Spirit and belief of the truth" 2. There are three things here which deserve our attention.
First, the fact that we are told
that God's elect are "chosen to salvation."
The language here could not be more explicit. It is to
"salvation" itself that God hath chosen us.
Second, we are warned here that
election unto salvation is reached through "sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth." Just because God has
chosen an individual to salvation does not mean that they can do what they
please, and believe whatever they choose. The same God who predestined the end,
also appointed the means; the same God who "chose us unto salvation",
also decreed that his purpose will be realized through the work of the Spirit
and belief of the truth.
Third, that God has chosen us
unto salvation should be a cause for fervent praise. Notice how strongly Paul
expresses this — "we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation".
Instead of shrinking in
horror from the doctrine of predestination, the believer, when he sees this
blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word, discovers a ground for gratitude
and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords, with the exception of the unspeakable gift of the God life from
God himself.
2 Tim. 1:9. "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according, to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" It is impossible to state the case more
clearly, or strongly, than it is stated here. Our salvation is not "according to our works"; that is to say, it
is not due to anything in us, nor the rewarding of anything from us; instead,
it is the result of God's own "purpose and
grace"; and this grace was given to us while we were yet in
Christ before the world began. It is by grace we are saved, and according to
the purpose of God, this grace was bestowed upon us not only before we saw the
light, not only before Adam's fall, but even before that far distant "beginning" of Gen.
1:1. And here lies the comfort of God's people.
If his choice has been from
eternity it will last to eternity! "Nothing
can survive to eternity but what came from eternity, and what has so come,
will"
EPHESIANS 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
1 Pet. 1:2 "Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ".
Notice that our salvation is
taken totally away from our own doing and is placed completely in the hands of
our Loving Father by His Sovereign choosing.
When Peter speaks of the
"foreknowledge of God the Father"
He is not placing this foreknowledge apart from what Paul has already told us,
but rather is speaking of what Paul said in Ephesians 1 of our being in Christ
before the world began. The
"foreknowledge" of God is based upon his own decrees as we see in Acts 2:23 — "Him,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" —
notice the order here: first God's
"determinate counsel" (his decree), and second comes his
foreknowledge.
We see the same thing in Rom. 8:28,29, "For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of
his Son", but the first word here, "for", looks back
to the preceding verse and the last clause of it reads, "to them who are the called according to his purpose"
— these are the ones whom he did "foreknow and
predestinate."
Finally, it needs to be
pointed out that when we read in Scripture of God "knowing" certain
people, the word is used in the sense of knowing with approbation and love: And
that runs in continuity of the scripture as we see in 1 Cor. 8:3. "But
if any man love God, the same is known of him" To the hypocrites Christ will yet say "I never knew you" — he never loved them.
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father signifies, then, chosen
by him as the special objects of his love.
The facts then as we have
studied them is number 1) God has "ordained to eternal life" certain
ones,
2) In consequence of his
ordination the elect ones, in due time, "believe";
3) God's ordaining elect
ones to salvation is not due to any good thing in them nor to anything
meritorious from them, but solely of his "grace";
4) God has so designed the
selected ones as to appear as the most unlikely objects to be the recipients of
his special favors, in order that "no flesh should glory in his
presence";
5) God chose his people in
Christ before the foundation of the world, not because they were so, but in
order that they "should be, holy and without blame before him";
6) Having selected certain
ones to salvation, he also decreed the means by which his eternal counsel
should be made good;
7) The very
"grace" by which we are saved was, in God's purpose, "given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began"; that long before they were
actually created, God's elect stood present in His mind, and thus were
"foreknown" by him, or were the definite objects of his eternal love.
Those who would differ from
this are what Paul called perverters of the Gospel, who seek to find some cause
outside God's own will, which moves him to bestow salvation on sinners;
something or other is attributed to the creature which entitles him to receive
mercy at the hands of the Creator. We return then to the question, Why did God
choose the ones he did?
What was there in the elect
themselves which attracted God's heart to them? Was it because of certain
virtues they possessed? because they were generous hearted, sweet tempered,
truth speaking? in a word, because they were "good", that God chose
them? No; for our Lord said, "There is none
good but one, that is God" Matt.
19:17.
Was it because of any good
works they had performed? No; for it is written, "There is none that doeth good, no, not one" Rom. 3:12. Was it because they showed evidence of
being earnest and zealous in inquiring after God? No; for it is written again,
"There is none that seeketh after God" Rom. 3:11. Was it because God foresaw they would
believe? No; for how can those who are "dead in
trespasses and sins" believe in Christ? How could God foreknow
some men as believers when belief was impossible to them? Scripture declares
that we "believe through grace" Acts 18:27. Faith is God's gift, and apart from
this gift none would believe. The cause of his choice then lies within himself
and not in the objects of his choice. He chose the ones he did simply because
he chose to choose them.
"Sons we are by God's
election Who on Jesus Christ believe, By eternal destination, Sovereign grace
we now receive,
2. The Role of the Son in
our Salvation
For whom did Christ die? It
surely does not need arguing that the Father had an express purpose in giving
him to die, or that God the Son had a definite design before him in laying down
his life — "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the
world" Acts 15:18. What then was the purpose of the Father and the design
of the Son? We answer, Christ died for "God's elect."
We are not unmindful of the
fact that the limited design in the death of Christ has been the subject of
much controversy — what great truth revealed in Scripture has not? Nor do we
forget that anything which has to do with the person and work of our blessed
Lord requires to be handled with the utmost reverence, and that a "Thus
saith the Lord"; must be given in support of every assertion we make. Our
appeal shall be to the Law and to the Testimony.
For whom did Christ die? Who
were the ones he intended to redeem by his blood shedding? Surely the Lord
Jesus had some absolute determination before him when he went to the Cross. If
he had, then it necessarily follows that the extent of that purpose was
limited, because an absolute determination or purpose must be effected. If the
absolute determination of Christ included all mankind, then all mankind would
most certainly be saved. To escape this inevitable conclusion many have
affirmed that there was no such absolute determination before Christ, that in
his death a merely conditional provision of salvation has been made for all
mankind. The refutation of this assertion is found in the promises made by the
Father to his Son before he went to the Cross, yea, before he became incarnate.
The Old Testament Scriptures represent the Father as promising the Son a
certain reward for his sufferings on behalf of sinners. At this stage we shall
confine ourselves to one or two statements recorded in the well known
fifty-third of Isaiah. There we find God saying, "When thou shalt make his
soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed", that "he shall see
of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied", and that God's righteous
Servant "should justify many" Isa. 53:10,11. But here we would pause
and ask, how could it be certain that Christ should "see his seed",
and "see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied", unless the
salvation of certain members of the human race had been divinely decreed, and
therefore was sure? How could it be certain that Christ should "justify
many", if no effectual provision was made that any should receive him as
their Saviour? On the other hand, to insist that the Lord Jesus did expressly
purpose the salvation all mankind, is to charge him with that which no
intelligent being should be guilty of, namely, to design that which by virtue
of his omniscience he knew would never come to pass. Hence, the only
alternative left us is that, so far as the predetermined purpose of his death
is concerned, Christ died for the elect only. Summing up in a sentence, which
we trust will be intelligible to every reader, we would say, Christ died not
merely to make possible the salvation of all mankind, but to make certain the
salvation of all that the Father had given to him. Christ died not simply to
render sins pardonable, but "to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself" Heb. 9:26. As to who's sin (i.e., guilt, as in 1 John 1:7, etc.)
has been "put away", Scripture leaves us in no doubt — it was that of
the elect, the "world" John 1:29 of God's people!
(1.) The limited design in
the Atonement follows, necessarily, from the eternal choice of the Father of
certain ones unto salvation. The Scriptures inform us that, before the Lord
became incarnate he said, "Lo, I come, to do thy will O God" Heb.
10:7, and after he had become incarnate he declared, "For I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" John 6:38.
If then God had from the beginning chosen certain ones to salvation, then,
because the will of Christ was in perfect accord with the will of the Father,
he would not seek to enlarge, upon his election. What we have just said is not
merely a plausible deduction of our own, but is in strict harmony with the
express teaching of the Word. Again and again our Lord referred to those whom
the Father had "given" him, and concerning whom he was particularly
exercised. Said he, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out ... And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day" John 6:37,39. And
again, "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and
said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify
thee; As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. ... I have manifested thy name unto the
men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest
them me; and they have kept thy word ... I pray for them: I pray not for the
world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine ... Father, I
will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they
may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovest me before the
foundation of the world" John 17:1,2,6,9,24. Before the foundation of the
world the Father predestinated a people to be conformed to the image of his
Son, and the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus was in order to the
carrying out of the divine purpose.
(2.) The very nature of the
Atonement evidences that, in its application to sinners, it was limited in the
purpose of God. The Atonement of Christ may be considered from two chief
viewpoints — God-ward and man-ward. God-wards, the cross work of Christ was a
propitiation, an appeasing of divine wrath, a satisfaction rendered to divine
justice and holiness; man-wards, it was a substitution, the innocent taking the
place of the guilty, the just dying for the unjust. But a strict substitution
of a person for persons, and the infliction upon him of voluntary sufferings,
involve the definite recognition on the part of the substitute and of the one
he is to propitiate of the persons for whom he acts, whose sins he bears, whose
legal obligations he discharges. Furthermore, if the Lawgiver accepts the
satisfaction which is made by the Substitute then those for whom the Substitute
acts, whose place he takes, must necessarily be acquitted. If I am in debt and
unable to discharge it and another comes forward and pays my creditor in full
and receives a receipt in acknowledgment, then, in the sight of the law, my
creditor no longer has any claim upon me. On the cross the Lord Jesus gave
himself a ransom, and that it was accepted by God was attested by the open
grave three days later; the question we would here raise is, For whom was this
ransom offered? If it was offered for all mankind then the debt incurred by
every man has been cancelled. If Christ bore in his own body on the tree the
sins of all men without exception, then none here perish. If Christ was
"made a curse" for all of Adam's race then none are now "under
condemnation". "Payment God cannot twice demand, first at my bleeding
Surety's hand and then again at mine." But Christ did not discharge the
debt of all men without exception, for some there are who will be "cast
into prison" (cf. 1 Pet. 3:19 where the same Greek word for prison
occurs), and they shall "by no means come out thence, till they have paid
the uttermost farthing" Matt. 5:26, which, of course, will never be.
Christ did not bear the sins of all mankind, for some there are who die in their
sins John 8:21, and whose "sin remaineth" John 9:41. Christ was not
"made a curse" for all of Adam's race, for some there are to whom he
will yet say, "Depart from me ye cursed" Matt. 25:41. To say that
Christ died for all alike, to say that he became the substitute and surety of
the whole human race, to say that he suffered on behalf of and in the stead of
all mankind, is to say that he "bore the curse for many who are now
bearing the curse for themselves; that he suffered punishment for many who are
now lifting up their own eyes in Hell, being in torments; that he paid the
redemption price for many who shall yet pay in their own eternal anguish `the
wages of sin, which is death'" (G.S. Bishop). But, on the other hand, to
say as Scripture says, that Christ was stricken for the transgressions of God's
people, to say that he gave his life for the sheep, to say that he gave his
life a ransom for many, is to say that he made an atonement which fully atones;
it is to say he paid a price which actually ransoms; it is to say he was set
forth a propitiation which really propitiates; it is to say he is a Saviour who
truly saves.
(3.) Closely connected with, and confirmatory of what we have said above, is the teaching of Scripture concerning our Lord's priesthood. It is as the great High Priest that Christ now makes intercession. But for whom does he intercede? For the whole human race, or only for his own people? The answer furnished by the New Testament to this question is clear as a sunbeam. Our Saviour has entered into Heaven itself "now to appear in the presence of God for us" Heb. 9:24, that is, for those who are "partakers of the heavenly calling" Heb 3:1. And again it is written, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" Heb. 7:25. This is in strict accord with the Old Testament type. After slaying the sacrificial animal, Aaron went into the Holy of Holies as the representative and on behalf of the people of God: it was the names of Israel's tribes which were engraven on his breastplate, and it was in their interests he appeared before God. Agreeable to this are our Lord's words in John 17:9 — "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." Another scripture which deserves careful attention in this connection is found in Rom. 8:1-39. In Rom. 8:33 the question is asked, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" and then follows the inspired answer — "It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Note particularly that the death and intercession of Christ have one and the same objects! As it was in the type so it is with the antitype — expiation and supplication are co-extensive. If then Christ intercedes for the elect only, and "not for the world", then he died for them only. And observe further, that the death, resurrection, exaltation and intercession of the Lord Jesus, are here assigned as the reason why none can lay any "charge" against God's elect. Let those who would still take issue with what we are advancing weigh carefully the following question — If the death of Christ extends equally to all, how does it become security against a "charge", seeing that all who believe not are "under condemnation"? John 3:18.
(4.) The number of those who
share the benefits of Christ's death is determined not only by the nature of
the Atonement and the priesthood of Christ but also by his power. Grant that
the one who died upon the cross was God manifest in the flesh, and it follows
inevitably that what Christ has purposed that will he perform; that what he has
purchased that will he possess; that what he has set his heart upon that will
he secure. If the Lord Jesus possesses all power in heaven and earth, then none
can successfully resist his will. But it may be said, This is true in the
abstract, nevertheless, Christ refuses to exercise this power, in as much as he
will never force anyone to receive him as their Saviour. In one sense that is
true, but in another sense it is positively untrue. The salvation of any sinner
is a matter of divine power. By nature the sinner is at enmity with God, and
naught but divine power operating within him, can overcome this enmity; hence
it is written, "No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent
me draw him" John 6:44. It is the divine power overcoming the sinner's
innate enmity which makes him willing to come to Christ that he might have
life. But this "enmity" is not overcome in all — why? Is it because
the enmity is too strong to be overcome? Are there some hearts so steeled
against him that Christ is unable to gain entrance? To answer in the
affirmative is to deny his omnipotence. In the final analysis it is not a
question of the sinner's willingness or unwillingness, for by nature all are
unwilling. Willingness to come to Christ is the finished product of divine
power operating in the human heart and will in overcoming man's inherent and
chronic "enmity", as it is written, "Thy people shall, be
willing in the day of thy power" Psa 110: 3. To say that Christ is unable
to win to himself those who are unwilling is to deny that all power in heaven
and earth is his. To say that Christ cannot put forth his power without
destroying man's responsibility is a begging of the question here raised, for
he has put forth his power and made willing those who have come to him, and if
he did this without destroying their responsibility, why "cannot" he
do so with others? If he is able to win the heart of one sinner to himself, why
not that of another? To say, as is usually said, the others will not let him is
to impeach his sufficiency. It is a question of his will. If the Lord Jesus has
decreed, desired, purposed the salvation of all mankind, then the entire human
race will be saved, or, otherwise, he lacks the power to make good his
intentions; and in such a case it could never be said, "he shall see of the
travail of his soul and be satisfied." The issue raised involves the deity
of the Saviour, for a defeated Saviour cannot be God.
Having reviewed some of the
general principles which require us to believe that the death of Christ was
limited in its design, we turn now to consider some of the explicit statements
of Scripture which expressly affirm it. In that wondrous and matchless
fifty-third of Isaiah God tells us concerning his Son, "he was taken from
prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut
off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he
stricken" Isa 53:8. In perfect harmony with this was the word of the angel
to Joseph, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins" Matt. 1:21 i.e. not merely Israel, but all whom the
Father had "given" him. Our Lord himself declared, "The Son of
Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a
ransom for many" Matt. 20:28, but why have said for many if all without
exception were included? It was his people whom he "redeemed" Luke
1:68. It was for "the sheep", and not the "goats", that the
Good Shepherd gave his life John 10:11. It was the "Church of God" which
he purchased with "his own blood" Acts 20:28.