All Atonement is Limited by Something

Particular Baptists understand it is an actual salvation being discussed.
They know it was a Covenant death,that has in it all that is necessary to bring it to pass.jn6:37-44.

Others speak of a potential salvation that requires things be added to it.

 

I personally don't follow that logic atpollard.
For me there is no limitation to the Blood of Christ to save.
1 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.

1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

There may be a "limitation" on my part to accept the gift of God offered to me by grace although in actuality that happened 57 years ago.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

First I admitted that the exception was with me NOT THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.

Second your logic is fallacious. The blood of Jesus Christ is declared in scripture as a propitiation for the sins of the whole world.

Your 3 questions are illogical because propitiation is not causative of regeneration.

Should be

• Was the Blood shed for all without exception? Yes.
  
• Could all without exception be saved? Yes.
  
• Could the Blood save all without exception? Yes.

 

We use human logic and put GOD into the time continuum when we try to figure Him out.
IMO, All we can do is see what doesn't seem to violate His character and sovereignty to the point of diminishing His omni-EVERYTHING.

Personally I don't think giving an unregenerate human being the power to chose does equal to that violation, but that's just me. Seems He did it for Cain

Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

 

Limited Atonement - Resurrection
Another interesting implication is that of the resurrection. Some believe that Christ’s sacrifice and redemption was limited, or only for those with faith. It is said that Christ only died for the elect. But allow me to offer another model. I believe that Christ’s redemption on the cross and subsequent resurrection was for all, but only those who are of faith will inherit life in the resurrection. In other words, because of Christ, all will be resurrected from Adam's judgement, but not all will enter the kingdom of heaven. That is only for those who believe the gospel and obtain the righteousness of Christ through the inheritance by kinship with Abraham.

Acts 24:15
having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

John 5:28
“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Revelation 21:8
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Daniel 12:1
Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.
2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

So Christ’s work resurrects each and every human being from Adam’s corporate judgment, but then they are judged as individuals (by Christ). Those who do not have Christ’s righteousness by faith in the gospel then have a second death and are thrown into the lake of fire.

Additionally, try to make sense of this apparent contradiction without this knowledge on resurrection:

Numbers 14:18
The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.

Ezekiel 18:20
The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

This seems at first to be contradiction, but then you realize that Ezekiel is future prophecy. Numbers describes the law, and what now is. Because of Christ, Adam's original judgment of death will be repealed in lieu of individual judgments. Then, as John 5:28 says, there will be a resurrection of all – the good to a resurrection of life, and the evil to a resurrection of a second judgment and a second death.

The lake of fire will burn with many of the resurrected for eternity. Because God is infinite, to sin against him is infinitely evil and and infinitely evil act deserves an infinite punishment.

 

It is the same identical group of people.
The elect have been given saving faith.
You say those who have faith.
Elect = those who have faith.

 

Sure the line is redundant... but this comment is really off-topic. What comment do you have on the notion that Jesus' work resurrects literally every human being from Adam's judgement (death) so that they may face individual judgments?

Doesn't this information effectively end the debate on "limited atonement" showing that Christ's work on the cross and His righteousness literally has a resurrecting affect on every person who ever died (thereby demonstrating that the affect of the cross is not limited to believers only).

I think the confusion from Calvin till now has been the conflation of resurrection with atonement, and the conflation with Adam's corporate judgement with our individual judgments.

Because of Christ and his righteousness, a corporate judgement is no longer just. It must be repealed so that all may be judged individually. It is in that individual judgement where Christ's righteousness covers our sin. That atonement is separate from the resurrection of all human beings. The resurrection is a byproduct of the repeal of Adam's corporate judgement. But then a second judgement (the great white throne judgment) will occur... an individual judgement. For many this will follow with a second death and the lake of fire. For those in Christ, the second judgement will result in eternal life with God.

Is Christ's atonement limited? Yes, only those who are in Christ will pass the second judgment.
Is Christ's atonement unlimited? Yes, it resurrects each and every human being from the first judgement.

Yet again, both Calvin and Arminius were wrong.

BTW -- with Adam's corporate judgement of death being repealed, and every human being being resurrected... won't women who had abortions be surprised when their children come to life? Now there is something to make your head explode.

 

There is a view where Christ's propitiation for the whole world is so He will be either one's Judge or one's Savior. 1 John 2:2; 1 John 5:19; Romans 8:34; Romans 14:9-11; 2 Corinthians 5:11; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11-15.

 

That's off topic, but as someone who thinks Calvin and Arminius both got it drastically wrong, I would say that the "chosen people" or "elect" have always been known... they are the descendants of Abraham. I think about it like this: The descendants of Abraham are the elect group, and that elect group has open enrollment. You get to choose whether or not to be adopted into that group by whether you choose to believe the gospel or not.

 

I don't think universal salvation is correct... rather... it will be universal resurrection.

John 5:28
“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

 

Neither did I.

So is it to be understood that you think Christ's propitiation for the whole world is for an universal resurrection of the dead? Do you have a passage in mind to support that idea? [All the dead will be raised is not at issue.]

 

See the following:

Because of Christ's righteousness existing, a repeal of Adam's judgement (the fall, the curse) is necessitated. This resurrects everyone. However, then we all experience the Great White Throne judgement you quoted from Revelation 20:11-15

Rev 20:11-15 NASB
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one [of them] according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.​

So unlike Adam's judgement where death spread to everyone on the account of 1 man's deed... in the great white throne judgement, each of us is judged for our own deeds (not on the basis of Adam's deed). Except those in Christ who's names are written in the book of life. Those who do not pass the individual judgement then have a second death.

What I'm saying is that Christ's propitiation is twofold -- by the nature of Christ's righteousness existing, Adam's corporate judgement is repealed. By the nature of Christ's sacrifice and blood, those in Christ are saved from the great white throne judgement. Christ's blood didn't cover Adam's sin... His righteousness did away with Adam's corporate judgement (death, the curse) and thereby will all who've ever lived be resurrected to face an individual great white throne judgement.

 

I think you are wrong on too many points. I am not writing a book here to answer them.

". . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; . . ." ". . . their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. . . ."