"THOU SHALT SURELY DIE!" (PART 16)
The reality is, if you believe the Word of God, you believe that all men are dead in sin, hopeless and without God (Rom. 3; Eph. 1 & 2; Col. 2). Man has no will and no way to come to God, so obviously if any man were to be saved it would be God Who would have to do the choosing, and provide the Way to salvation, granting salvation by grace, the gifts of repentance and faith in order that they would repent of dead works, and believe the Gospel (see Heb. 6:1). That God would Sacrifice His Son, even for some, is an act of supreme love which far exceeds the understanding of carnal man. Even if this love were to save one person it would still be an act of supreme and unsurpassed love. What most people simply do not realise is the fact that God was not obligated to save any! He was not bound by man's warped sense of equity to save any, but committed Himself to saving some in accord with His love, purpose and will. An awesome thing. Imagine giving up your son to be killed for a people who payed no attention to you, who were your enemies, and had grievously sinned against you. God's having sent His Son to die for all of mankind would have been riddled with failure if even one person remained lost for all eternity. If Jesus had died for all, those who were not entrusted to Him as well as for those who were, those for whom He did not pray as well as those for whom He did pray, then it would have shown that His will was that everyone be saved. The very essence of what Atonement is, demands the salvation of all for whom it was made. Christ offered Himself as a vicarious sacrifice on the behalf of all God's elect. This Offering succeeded in reconciling those people to God, and, chiefly, God with His people. This was between God the Father, and God the Son. The Father accepted Christ's offering on the behalf of all those the Father had given Him, and so Atonement, or Satisfaction was made. The work is finished, and all His chosen are the beneficiaries. Clearly not every individual is saved, so how could Christ's death have been for all humanity seeing that not all are saved? Why would Christ have died for those whom He would not save? What did He do for them? He died for them to do, or achieve, nothing for them? Christ succeeded in obtaining redemption on the behalf of all those He laid down His life for (see Heb. 9:12). Christ's universal death is nothing but mere folklore, a fiction to entertain and amuse the masses, for whom Christ did not die, or even pray.
If one is to remain true to the proper meaning of the word atonement, the entire premise that the Sacrifice of God was for all mankind would mean that everyone will be saved. The fact that not everyone has been, is, or will be saved is the telling factor which shows that universal atonement has failed in its attempt to save any. According to the word atonement, if it has saved one it has saved all for whom it was made. The prime objective of Christ’s atonement was to save all those for whom He laid down His life. That this objective was fully realised is seen in Christ’s final words on the cross, “…it is finished…” (Jn. 19:30), or, payment has been made. Reconciliation was made between those Christ died for, and Almighty God. Christ’s atoning work does not rely on man accepting what was done on his behalf, for the sacrifice of Christ was an offering made unto the Father for those He had given to the Son, and not to those He had chosen (see Eph. 5:2). The god of universal atonement is simply not the True God of the Bible. There is no precedent for universal atonement, nor any hint of it, to be found anywhere in Scripture. The whole tenet of Atonement is that substitutionary, or vicarious, sacrifice was made by one representing a specific group of people: those whom God had given to the Son (see 2 Cor. 5:21; Jn. 17:2,9), and making sacrifice on their behalf to God. Christ was a "...a kinsmen Redeemer, Who acted in place of and on behalf of His people. When Jesus died on the cross, He said, '...It is finished...' (Jn. 19:30), and the Greek word translated finished is teleō, which was used to indicate that a debt had been paid in full. And that is exactly what Jesus accomplished on the cross”. Addressing the saints at Collosae, Paul wrote "And you, being dead in your sins...hath He quickened (made alive) together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross" (Col. 2:13,14). The Lord Jesus did something on that cross. He accomplished redemption for all those for whom He died by becoming a curse for them (see Gal. 3:13). Christ's death ensured that all those for whom He died would live, and was not some do-nothing death which relied upon a man's free will in order to ratify it. Even the briefest of studies on what the high priest of the Old Testament did, will show clearly that never was there a sacrifice ordered by God for a people upon whom the success of that sacrifice depended. The sacrifice was always made, offered, TO GOD and FOR a predetermined people. The success of the sacrifice ALWAYS depended on God's accepting it, for it was offered TO HIM for His people (see Eph. 5:2). The high priest acted on behalf of, he represented God's people to God, and God to His people. Likewise, Christ, of whom the high priest was merely a shadow, represented all those whom the Father had given Him having laid down His life for them.
Christ died for His brethren: the seed of Abraham (see Gal. 3:29; Heb. 2:12-17; Isa. 53:10). Are we to believe that, under God’s direction, the Old Testament high priest succeeded in every sacrifice he performed for the people of God, but Christ failed to successfully achieve atonement for all those for whom He died? If Christ had died for all, but His Sacrificial death not actually being effective for anyone, but only making salvation possible and dependent upon an individual's free will choice of Him, then it would have been a monumental waste of time, for Scripture reminds us that NO man seeks after God. The teaching of free will, of salvation being dependant on a man’s choice, simply does not fit with the biblical concept of atonement and sacrifice for sin as designed by God. Moreover, if the success of Christ’s death for all, depended on each individual’s acceptance of it, Christ would be proven not to have been the Substance of the shadow, for His sacrifice would not have been what was foreshadowed in the Old Testament office and sacrifice of the high priest. Those sacrifices were made for a predetermined people, and offered to God which He accepted, for all was done under His direction and guidance. Christ’s sacrifice was what all this pointed to. Christ offered Himself to God for the sins of a predetermined people from every nation, and God accepted His sacrifice for them. Their sins were taken away, and His Righteousness imputed to them. The teachings of a sacrifice made for all, but not resulting in the salvation of all, makes no Scriptural sense whatsoever. No such sacrifice was ever ordered by God. Nothing of the kind was foreshadowed in the Old Testament types. Go right back to Noah, and see that God only saved righteous Noah (see Gen. 6:9), and his family, AND NO ONE ELSE! (see Gen. 6). The whole world, arguably around 10-11 million people, died in the judgement waters of the Flood, and God only saved eight people! (see 1 Pet. 3:20; cf. 2 Pet. 2:5). God saved only those whom He had chosen to be in covenant with (see Gen. 6:18; cf. Heb. 9:12-17). During the several decades it took to build the Ark, no one who had heard Noah, a preacher of righteousness, ever entered into the Ark. The world of the ungodly would not be, and were not, spared the Wrath of God. Only Noah and his family were chosen. God “…spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Pet. 2:5; cf. Matt. 24:36-39).
Christ has died for considerably more than eight people, but His death was only for those whom God wanted saved: those whom the Father gave to Him. Why would Christ have died for everyone, and then await their choice of Him, to see if what He had done was successful, knowing full well that no man, by nature, would even seek Him, let alone desire, or choose Him? Again, the crucial and essential element of Christ's Sacrifice, is that it was not a sacrifice offered to man—its effectiveness depending on man’s acceptance/approval of it—but the sacrifice of Christ was made on behalf of God's people, and offered to Almighty God. Addressing his Letter to the saints at Ephesus, Paul stated: "...walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself FOR us an offering and a sacrifice TO God..." (Eph. 5:2). This Scripture alone should shatter the doctrine of free will, in the mind of the Arminian, for it discloses the undeniable fact that the one upon whose acceptance of what Christ had done depended, was Almighty God, and not on those for whom Christ laid down His life. Again, we see those for whom Christ died as mere recipients, and not active players in the procurement of their salvation. Christ was the Lamb of God “Whom God had set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His Righteousness for the remission of sins…” (Rom. 3:25; cf. Jn. 1:29). In God’s setting forth His own Son as the Sacrifice for the sins of His people, we see God’s approval and acceptance of Jesus as the Holy Sacrifice. In the Old Testament God directed how the high priest was to conduct the annual sacrifice, for the sins of His people. In the New Testament, God brought His own Lamb, His Son Jesus, to be offered up for the sins of His people. For those who believe in a universal atonement, "...God loves everyone in general but saves no one in particular and, in fact, leaves the matter of their salvation up to them. Which is more loving, a love that actually saves people or a love that makes salvation 'possible' to those who are dead in trespasses and sins and unable to choose God?" Christ's death for all is a nonsense, but a Sovereign God choosing, before the foundation of the world, those whom He wanted saved, and providing a Savior for them in the guise of His Son to pray for them and to make sacrifice for, and only for, those whom the Father entrusted to Him, makes perfect sense, perfect Scriptural sense.
What God wants, He does, and what He does not want, He does not do. God would not be God if he failed, or even if He could fail. God has no propensity toward failure. God would cease to be God if He failed, or could fail, at anything, if 100% of His will did not occur 100% of the time. What God wills, happens. "...our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased" (Psa. 115:3); God says of Himself: "...I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE" (Isa. 46:9,10; cf. 2 Chron. 20:6); "...all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What does Thou?" (Dan. 4:35). All Christians "...have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own Will" (Eph. 1:11; cf. Isa. 28:29). God does whatever He pleases and there is none like Him. He knows all things and always does what He wants. No one can stop Him, and none have any right to complain about, or dispute anything which He has done. God has appointed His elect to obtain salvation through the Death and Resurrection of Christ His Son. All these people, whom God had chosen before the foundation of the world were entrusted to His Son Jesus Christ to make sacrifice for all their sins (Jn. 17:2). God’s love is not dictated to by His power to save all, but by His will to save some. God does not do all that He is capable of doing, but only that which is according to His will and purpose.
The Lord Jesus Christ did not die sufficiently for all, but only efficiently for some, as so many wrongly teach. What utter nonsense is this Calvinist lie trying to put over on man, anyway? Such fantasy belongs in the realm of fairy tales, for it assuredly does not find any accommodation in the pages of God's Holy Word. Nor did Christ die for the people He knew would choose Him, but for those He knew the Father had entrusted to Him. Christ died for the ones the Father chose before the foundation of the world according to His grace, and not their works. Scripture says that Christ died, He laid down His life for the sheep (see Jn. 10:15); for those whom God had entrusted to Him (see Jn. 17:2,9); for those, and only those, whom God had appointed not to receive His Wrath, but to obtain salvation by their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ WHO DIED FOR THEM! (see 1 Thess. 5:9,10). The dead sinner protests, 'Well, what of the rest of us, what chance do we have?' What of mankind in general, my friend? WHAT CHANCE DID ANYONE HAVE? All mankind is dead in sin, and can do nothing to come to the true God. Cannot God do what He wills? Can He not choose some to obtain salvation, and to appoint others to His Wrath? Where lies the injustice which so many claim? For God has chosen to have mercy on some, and to rightly and justly punish others. No one deserved God’s mercy and love, for all men by nature stand guilty before a Holy God. God’s mercy to save some and not others is the Judge’s right, and no one has any right to lodge a complaint. Sinful man has no legal ground upon which to lodge any appeal, for no injustice has been done. People believe that Christ's dying only for the elect shuts out those not chosen, but what they fail to realise is that MANKIND HAS SHUT ITSELF OUT, and God is the one Who has graciously chosen to save some and bring them into His Kingdom.
That not all were chosen, and that not all are, or will be, saved, is one of the many evidences of the veracity of the doctrine of Christ's exclusive death for those whom the Father gave Him. Perhaps the grandest proof that Christ does not even pray for the world, but for those given Him by the Father, and that God does not love everybody, is evidenced in His not choosing all, for of what use would God's love toward a person be if it's end was not to accomplish salvation for them. People whom God loved, going to Hell? People whose sins were charged to Christ, going to Hell? Ridiculous! God's love for His people may be seen in the Scripture which records the Lord Jesus' declaration in reference to His disciples: "I pray for them", referring to the ones God had chosen and given unto Him. Christ did not die for the people He knew would choose Him, but for the ones God had chosen to be His. He prayed and died for God's people: "I pray for...them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine" (Jn. 17:9; cf. Jn. 17:20; Heb. 7:25). "I pray not for the world" (Jn. 17:9; cf. Rom 8:27). Obviously in saying 'world' Christ did not mean He did not pray for anyone at all, everyone ever born, for that would mean He did not even pray for His own. Christ was saying that He did not pray for those whom God had not given Him out of the world (see Jn. 15:19). God's people are not of the world: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (Jn. 17:16). Christ added "And for THEIR sakes I sanctify Myself, that THEY also might be sanctified through the Truth" (Jn. 17:19). Now, the question which the universalist (those who believe Christ died for all) must answer is: If Christ has died for all then it is obvious that the Father gave all to Christ to die for. Why, then, would Jesus Christ not pray for anyone whom His Father had given unto Him to die for? And, why would Christ sanctify Himself for the sake of the elect, but not for the sake of all mankind? Now, before any subscriber to the lie that Christ died for all goes another step, I challenge him to sit down and stay seated, and do not get up until you have answered these questions, not to my satisfaction, but that of the Scriptures! And please send me your answer because in all my lifetime I have yet to hear even one answer to such questions. All I have ever heard in response is silence, (spiritually) DEAD silence! "Never assume that an answer is unimportant simply because you don't know what it is."
Why would any sane person not accept what cannot be denied? Wilful ignorance and self-serving bias, that is why. "Self-serving bias causes us to see things in ways that support our best interests and our pre-existing points of view." Such a bias which often favors the religious traditions of men, and rebels against what the Word of God is truly saying, reveals the distinct absence of the love of the Truth of God. Such a bias also leads a person to disregard truth, to not even want to hear it, so they can continue to believe what is most convenient for them to believe. Many shun the truth for fear of discovering they are adhering to erroneous doctrine. Additionally, they stick to what they believe because it's what their parents, or friends, or fellow church-goers believe, and believing any different would cause upheaval in their lives and, heaven forbid, being ostracized by those they love, or want to be accepted by. Such people would do well to remember Christ’s words: “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37,38). Why hold onto something which has been clearly exposed as a lie? Why would anyone who is serious about knowing the Truth of God wilfully continue to hold dear that which they know is not true? One man, who admitted to not being able to deny the truth of God’s Gospel, responded by saying “If I accept this Gospel then I will have to admit that for years I have been wrong”. This is how utterly, and desperately, wicked man’s heart is. He shuns the undeniable, for the sake of his pride and vanity. Rather than forsaking lies and holding to the Truth, spiritually dead man would rather hold on to the error all the way to Hell! Why hold onto the lie that man is not spiritually dead to God, when the Word of God shows clearly that man's current spiritual state is one which he must be made alive from in order for him to be saved? Why hold onto the lie that man can freely choose the true God, when God Himself says that there are none who even seek after Him, which proves their eternal spiritual separation from, and bias against, Him? The doctrine of the non-spiritual death of man insists man has a choice. But this 'choice' denies that God is the one Who chooses. God's people, as described in Scripture, are said to be a chosen generation, and not a generation of choosers (see 1 Pet. 2:9). Salvation by grace shuts out a man's works. Salvation by grace just says it all: Salvation by God. Salvation is entirely by what God does, and not at all by what He allegedly enables a man to do. ALL of Salvation is a gift! Believing the Gospel of God is a gift from God. It is not a work which God enables a man to do. Man, with his own faith, cannot believe the True God which is why the Faith that can, will and does believe the True God is a gift given by God to those He has chosen to make alive, those whom He has chosen to be spiritually united with Him.
If man must do this or that before he can be saved, then salvation is not at all by grace, but by grace enabling a man to perform a work upon which salvation hinges. This is conditional salvation, and is ultimately reliant upon what a man does rather than solely on what God does in the salvation of His people. "...the law is not of faith..." (Gal. 3:12). "...the law does not consist of faith in Christ, nor does it require it....it is the Gospel that reveals the Righteousness of Christ, and directs and encourages men to believe in Him and be saved; nor does the law take any notice of a man's faith; nor has it anything to do with a man as a believer, but as a doer, in the point of justification". You cannot have law and faith just as you cannot combine works with grace. Nowhere in Scripture is it taught that God enables a man to believe, but only that the gift of Faith is given to the man ensuring that he will believe, and that he can do nothing but believe the Gospel of the God of grace, seeing God has made him alive to Him. Salvation by grace is saying salvation is by what God does, and not by anything a man can do. IT IS BY GRACE, THROUGH THE GIFT OF FAITH, THAT A MAN BELIEVES. Grace is not given to make a thing possible. Grace is given to put that thing into effect. The saved man is not given a light switch, and then left to himself as to whether or not he decides to turn the light on. But, by the grace of God, the Light is revealed, and those to whom it is revealed cannot but see. When the Light is revealed, there is simply no alternative but to see it. Again, salvation is not about who chooses it, but whom God has chosen to reveal Himself to. There is no choice to be made when something is revealed to you.
Scripture says that is by Christ that a man believes: "Who by Him do believe in God..." (1 Pet. 1:21). Later in that chapter Peter talks about a man being born again by the Word of God, His Gospel. God makes the man alive, and He makes him believe by granting him the Faith to believe with. One is not granted Faith in order to enable them to make a choice to believe, but is given the gift so that they will believe. To 'enable' implies God doing something that will make it only possible for a man to respond to in a positive way, that will give him the potential to do it. God's enabling a man to make a choice, leaves salvation dependent on the man's decision, rather than the will of the Sovereign God. The Word of God says that the Lord does not enable a man to come to Him, but that He causes the man to come. The following Scripture allows no room at all for a man's will, or works: "Blessed is the man whom THOU CHOOSEST, and CAUSEST TO approach unto Thee..." (Psa. 65:4). If God does something, you may be assured it had to be done, and that no other could do it, and that there was no other way it could be done. In God’s choosing a man, it is obvious man cannot choose God; and, in God’s causing a man to come to Him, it is obvious that nothing within man could have done this. “…there is none that seeketh after God” (Rom. 3:11). Remember Jesus’ words: “…no man can come unto Me, except the Father…” (Jn. 6:44). God does the choosing, and God is why a man comes to Him. Grace does not enable a man to be saved, for grace is what saves the man. The gift of salvation does not make it possible for a man to be saved, for salvation is what saves. And, the gift of Faith does not make it possible for a man to believe, for Faith is what he believes with, just like breathing does not make life possible, but is evidence that one is alive. A man's believing is an act of God and not a decision of man's. A saved man is made spiritually alive from the dead by God. Man has no decision to make, just like Paul on the Damascus road did not decide to see the Light, for he was shown the Light, and could not but see it. Paul never once said he decided to see the Light, or that he chose God. Salvation is not by decision, but by REVELATION! It is quite evident by what happened on that road to Damascus that salvation was an act of God, and no decision of the apostle's. A saved man is a believer as the result of God's work, which is called grace, and not man's free will, which is a work, and in direct opposition to grace.
Grace is a gift, Faith is a gift and Salvation is a gift. "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? NAY: but by the law of FAITH" (Rom. 3:27). This exclusion of all boasting on the part of man is concrete evidence that NO PART of salvation could possibly be conditioned on man, not even his believing! It is by God that a saved man believes (see 1 Pet. 1:21). ONLY THE GOSPEL OF TOTAL GRACE EXCLUDES THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY MAN BOASTING IN SOMETHING HE HAS DONE—EVEN IF, LIKE THE PHARISEE (Lk. 18:11-14), HE ATTRIBUTES HIS OBEDIENCE TO GOD. The grace of God is not about God enabling us to do anything, but about God doing EVERYTHING to save His people from their sins. Therefore, salvation is not about us, it is not about what we must do, but all about what GOD has done to secure the salvation of His people. And so, the Savior, God’s Holy Servant sent to save those people God had elected before the foundation of the world, was sent to save those people, not based on anything they did, or that He would enable them to do for themselves, BUT BY WHAT HE WOULD DO FOR THEM. Thus all boasting is excluded because salvation comes by grace through faith in the Savior’s Works. No room for boasting on man's part, is irrefutable evidence that no work of man's is necessary for salvation. No room for boasting on man's part, is also undeniable evidence that there is nothing man can do to get saved, or stay saved, which in turn shows without doubt that no part of salvation could possibly be conditioned, or dependent on man. All that remains is God and His Grace. Salvation is not by man, or of man, therefore, it MUST be ALL of God.
We conclude from this that that which strays from the first principal of grace—God doing everything for those who cannot do anything for themselves—is that leaven, which the apostle talks about that corrupts the whole message of the Gospel of grace. A thing cannot be corrupted by itself, therefore grace cannot corrupt grace. It is that which is foreign to a thing which corrupts it, and in the case of the Gospel of the grace of God which reveals God's salvation Plan, only the doctrine of the works of man can corrupt it. Only by a salvation which is ultimately conditioned, or dependent on what a man does, is grace corrupted. Paul's response to this, is: "...if it be of works, then is it no more grace..." Any gospel which teaches that man must do something BEFORE salvation can take place, is a false gospel, for it does not teach grace, but works. It does not teach God, but man. THE WORD OF GOD TEACHES THAT SALVATION IS NOT ACHIEVED BY AN EFFORT OF MAN’S, BUT IS A GIFT OF GOD. If anyone is teaching you, or if you believe, that salvation is in anyway conditioned on what you do, then it is not grace in which you, or they, believe. What the apostle Paul was saying is that: SALVATION IS EITHER BY 100% GRACE, OR BY 100% WORKS. You must either rely completely upon the grace of God, or completely upon what you do. If you rely on even just one rule of obedience to either get you saved, or keep you saved “…Christ shall profit you nothing” (Gal. 5:2). Have even one rule in your life to which you must comply in order to get you saved, or keep you saved, and you are “…a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of NO EFFECT unto you…” (Gal. 5:3,4). You cannot rely on the combustible mixture of both grace and works, for such a solution will just explode in your face! Grace and works are arch enemies, they cannot mix, for the one cancels out the other. They are diametrically and eternally opposed. One exalts God alone, and the other exalts only man. If you believe salvation is conditioned on what you must do, then you cannot refer to grace at all. Likewise, if you rightly believe salvation is all of grace, you cannot, indeed WILL NOT, refer to what a man must do to get saved or stay saved, for you believe that all has been done by God, “…by the obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Paul the apostle was saying that if salvation is by grace, then one cannot assign any role in the attaining, or maintaining of it, to works.
One tiny doctrine, one seemingly insignificant denial of the Truth of God, changes the proper description of God in the minds of men "...Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" (Jas. 3:5). If man is not spiritually dead, then he must have a free will to choose Christ, Who, in turn, must have died for all. God then cannot save those He wants to save, but must rely on people choosing Him. If man is not spiritually dead, Christ must have died for all, and it is now up to each individual to accept this sacrifice made on their behalf. If man is not spiritually dead, then he must be in possession of free will, and an inherent desire to seek the True God. However, what need would there be for choice, if Christ's work of Atonement was specifically for some, and not all. The problem with such teaching is that what Christ has done WAS FULLY EFFECTIVE, AND WAS FULLY ACCOMPLISHED upon His death, and NOT when someone 'accepts' what He has done. Christ said on the Tree, ''...it is finished..." (Jn. 19:30) not 'it is partly done and now needs man's decision'. "...the single word that Jesus spoke (which is translated as 'It is finished') is 'tetelestai'. This certainly has the meaning of completion (which is what it primarily means in the context of John 19:30) but it can also mean 'discharge a debt' or 'paid in full'. It was common to the Jews and Romans of that time because it was the word they wrote on a debt that someone had, once it was paid. So this victory cry of Jesus would have also meant to His hearers 'Paid in full!'" The payment for sin was accomplished by Christ. His work of redemption was accomplished for all those for whom He died (see Heb. 9:12), thus proving that Christ's Atoning, Vicarious death, was for a specific number of people all of whom are “…partakers of the Benefit…” (1 Tim. 6:2). Christ’s atoning sacrifice was not a work done for all, for, seeing that not all are saved, its effectiveness would have been dependant or conditioned on them, and not on what was actually done.
A powerful Scripture, found in the Letter to the Hebrews, teaches so very clearly what exactly it was that set in motion the benefit of what every sinner chosen by God was to inherit. "And for this cause He (Christ) is the Mediator of the New Testament, THAT BY MEANS OF (His) DEATH, for the REDEMPTION of the transgressions that were under the first testament, THEY WHICH ARE CALLED might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator" (Heb. 9:15,16). Here we see, that in order for redemption to take place, there must needs be a death. Blood must be shed in violent death, for therein is the life: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar TO MAKE AN ATONEMENT for your souls: FOR IT IS THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL" (Lev. 17:11). "...without shedding of blood there is no remission” (of sins), which clearly indicates that where there is shedding of blood THERE IS REMISSION of the sins of those for whom it has been shed. (see Heb. 9:22). Death/blood does the work. Christ said: "...this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many FOR the remission of sins" (Matt. 26:28). Redemption comes, not by the acceptance of what has been done on one's behalf, but by the death of the sacrifice: "In Whom we HAVE redemption THROUGH HIS BLOOD..." (Eph. 1:7; cf. Rev. 5:9). Exodus 24:8 tells us, "...Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people..." The blood which was sprinkled was taken from the animals that were sacrificed in the burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. The New Testament speaks the same language concerning the elect people of God: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and SPRINKLING OF THE BLOOD of Jesus Christ..." (1 Pet. 1:2; cf. 2 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 9:22). God spoke clearly in Exodus 12:13 when He stated: "...when I see the blood, I will pass over you..." The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, He is the Passover Lamb of all His people, and when the Father saw His blood poured out for the sins of His people He passed over their sin, and would not visit them with everlasting torment. "...Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7; cf. Jn. 10:15; Rom. 4:25).
In order for a last will and testament to be put into effect, there must needs be the death of the one who made it. It is not conditioned on the acceptance of what has been bequeathed by the testator, but what has been left a person becomes reality when the one who made the will dies. Jesus Christ has not only made sacrifice, or atonement, for God’s people, HE IS THE SACRIFICE; HE IS THE ATONEMENT for all whom God chose. God has promised an Inheritance for His people, and it has now been put into force by the Death of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is by means of Christ’s death, and not the ‘free-will’ acceptance of it, that has put into effect that which has been bequeathed in His last Will and Testament. The receiving of this great gift of salvation is, in reality, not a work of man’s, not even a response on our part, but the granting of a gift by God; it is the moment that God has appointed to open the eyes of one of His elect by His Holy Spirit through regeneration. Religion has always placed the emphasis on that precious moment (in time) when a man is saved, on man’s choosing God, when in reality it is the granting and reception, by God’s grace, of a Gift—the Gift of salvation. It is a presentation, by a loving God, to a vessel made willing by God to receive it: "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy Power..." (Psa. 110:3), and: "Blessed is the man whom THOU CHOOSEST, and CAUSEST to approach unto Thee..." (Psa. 65:4) It is God’s work, not man’s. An elect man is merely a receptacle which God has chosen to be a vessel made unto honor, which He has filled with the water of everlasting life (see Rom. 9:21-24).
The flawed foundation of the Arminian gospel, and all versions of it, cannot support the weight of Truth, but only the weightless lies of men. Friend, I have presented the Truth to you, the unadulterated, unchallengeable Truth of the Word of Almighty God. I LOVE the Truth of God, and I pray that God's Truth will resonate with everyone who reads this book so that they, too, will love the True God and His only Gospel.
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Col. 2:8).
For a detailed study of the Sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ please see my books: 'God's Only Jesus', 'Atonement For Whom?' and 'Jesus Did What For Whom?' These may be viewed at godsonlygospel.com
REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL