John Mcarthur talks about Limited Atonement

well speaking of that and it's a perfect transition into the first question that we had several of um and that relates to last night in your discussions about the atonement and the question is if that's true then why witness how do we tell people god loves them and that jesus christ did not die for them or do we tell them that well you tell them whatever the bible tells you to tell them and the bible tells you to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and that's what you do because that's what the scripture says any tension you have between that and the nature of the atonement any tension you have between that and the doctrine of the divine election and predestination any tension you feel in those areas i feel i feel the same tension i ask the same question i don't i don't know that there's some kind of quick answer to the question i i am however happy uh to concede that god can resolve things that i can't i like really i i don't expect of you and you shouldn't expect of me to be to be able to unscrew the unscrutable uh you you you really don't think that i'm going to solve all the vast uh theological dilemmas that have existed since the scriptures were pinned actually some people do yeah so the best answer to this question is my brother i feel your pain that is the best answer to that question i uh i'm not here to give you an answer but i will tell you this i do not believe that jesus died for nobody i believe he died for somebody and i believe he died specifically for those who would believe in him and those who believe in him are those who are regenerated by the holy spirit based upon the eternal sovereign electing purpose of god i think his atonement was an actual one not a potential one i don't think it was a general one i think it was a specific one i think was a real death for sin the issue here is the nature of the atonement forget the dilemma you're going to have the dilemma no matter what you do the dilemma is why didn't he send everybody to heaven the dilemma is why is there hell and why are people going there that is that is a legitimately difficult question to ask the only answer i can give you is that if god purposed to do that romans 9 who are we to question his purpose if he gets glory from judgment the way he gets glory from from salvation who are we to question that the other issue is nobody goes to hell for any other reason and that they're guilty of sin and unbelief how that fits i don't know but there are a lot of things i don't know i've said this so many times i don't even know how my own spiritual life works i don't look paul says in galatians 2 20 i'm crucified with christ nevertheless i live yet not i he didn't know either i he didn't know so you know if you if i ask you the question who lives your spirit who lives your christian life who lives your spiritual life who's in charge of your spiritual life well some of some of us are going to rise and say well it's the holy spirit i don't really think you want to blame him and if it's all the holy spirit what are all the commands in the bible about and yet when when you when you know you must obey and and the spirit must work and it it's it's the mystery of how that comes together uh it's the same issue between the security the believer held in the father's hand and the necessity of perseverance of faith a persevering faith it's the same issue that we have in the in the volitional aspects of salvation and in the sovereign aspects there there's there's there's a sort of a resolution resolution in the center of that that is known only in the mind of god but i will not resolve the problem of the lost any other way than to do what the scripture tells me to do and that is that the bible affirms to me that god loves the world the specific people in the world the specific human beings i don't know who they are spurgeon said if you'll pull up their shirts and show me an e stamped on their back and i know the elect i'll i'll limit my work to them but since there is no such stamp i am committed to obey the command to preach the gospel to every creature and i can say to them that the love of god has been expressed through jesus christ death on the cross and you will know and experience that love if you put your faith in him and if you don't do that you'll perish in your sins and jesus said you will perish in your sins because you believe not on me i'm very comfortable to just take the biblical aspect but i don't think it's a good solution to diminish the nature of the atonement and have jesus dying for everybody if you say that he paid in full the penalty for all the sins of all the world then what is anybody doing in hell that's double jeopardy that doesn't work so people don't want to say that so they say well he died a potentially saving death in that sense he died for nobody in particular and everybody in general and the sinner who is depraved is the one who activates the potential atonement well that that's impossible so i i just don't want to find the answer to the dilemma of um of the death of christ by diminishing the nature of the atonement it is a real death for those who died in him that's what the text says i lay down my life for my sheep and we looked at that so and it's a good it's a good question to answer because you guys want to be very careful in the tensions that are in this and it flows through every major doctrine in scripture that connects the sinner with god you don't want to resolve that tension by asking philosophical questions you always want to live in that tension by being obedient to scripture okay but i do feel your pain because i don't have an answer to all those questions and i'm i'm at times profoundly exercised over the the the non-resolution because i like to find the the resolution to things but the issue on why witness you wouldn't suggest bringing up uh the discussion of the limitations of the atonement in in a witnessing context i think we have to be careful what we say i think there are there are unlimited benefits tied into the atonement you can show in in the new testament that um you know the expression of god's love and the atonement is the expression of the same love that's demonstrated in common grace he reigns on the you know it reigns on the just and the unjust there's there's common grace there's uh there's a kindness of god there's even a salvation of god demonstrating a temporal way he's the savior of all men temporally physically in this sense that the world is full of sinners who aren't dead what is that that god is saying to them you don't get what you deserve when you deserve it that's my nature so that demonstration is there for them to see temporally uh but especially of those who believe he is the savior of them not temporally and not physically but eternally and spiritually but he puts his saving nature on display even in the gospel offer and in common grace and in the withholding of judgment and so i think we can say to sinners that god is merciful and god is compassionate and god calls you to repent and calls you to believe and he's offered his son as a sacrifice for those who do and that's the way i would say it

Channel: Heismightytosaveyou

Views: 97,141

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Keywords: limited atonemen, john mcarthur, god, jesus, christian, doctrine

Id: 5NVaOWJijik

Length: 7min 41sec (461 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 06 2010