The
Two Sides of Reconciliation
The gospel of Jesus Christ, as we
have painstakingly pointed out, is a coin with two sides. One side of
the gospel coin is the PROVISION side, the good news that God in Christ
has provided a remedy for our sin. The other side of the gospel coin is
the APPROPRIATION side, the good news that God in Christ has provided
for sinners the means to appropriate the sin remedy by a simple look of
faith to the One Who died for them and rose again the third day. The
provision side is encapsulated in: “Christ died for our sins, according
to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Those scriptures would most
certainly include Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all.”
We have also pointed out that
Calvinism, in gospel-deficient fashion, is philosophically bound to
limit the gospel to one side of that coin, the appropriation side. For
the Calvinist, the gospel essentially consists in one scripture:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts
16:31). Now there's absolutely nothing wrong with declaring that
promise of appropriation to a sinner. Here's the problem: A sinner
CANNOT appropriate what God has not provided! If Calvinism's theory of
Limited Atonement (or Particular Redemption) is true, then there are
some for whom God made no provision for sin in the death of his Son.
Therefore the promise of appropriation given in Acts 16:31 CANNOT apply
to them. If Jesus did not die for your sins, God CANNOT save you
despite ANY attempt on your part to appropriate salvation. No
provision, no appropriation...period. This is not rocket
science.
In 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, the apostle
Paul wrote in eloquent terms about the two sides of reconciliation. In
this passage we find yet again another truth that totally destroys the
entire system of Calvinism. Paul writes: “For the love of Christ
constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then
were all dead” (5:14). With the phrase “we thus judge”, Paul employs
basic yet unassailable logic pertaining to the death of Christ. His
argument is based on an Unlimited or Universal Atonement. “If one died
for all, then were all dead.” Can we agree that the first “all” and the
second “all” both refer to the same group of people? Paul certainly
thought so. Intellectual honesty demands it. If the Calvinist chooses
to limit the first “all” to “all of the elect”, then he must also argue
that the second “all” does as well. In other words, if Christ died for
the elect only, then only the elect were spiritually dead. It is clear
that Paul did NOT subscribe to a Limited Atonement. He was NOT a
five-pointer, as I have heard some Calvinists ludicrously
argue.
The verb “constraineth” means “to
hold together” (so that nothing falls away from the whole). The idea of
compression or pressure is in view. The verb was used to describe the
constraint that farmers would apply to their animals in order to
administer medications. Paul uses the present tense to convey
continuous, ongoing action. The love that constantly motivated the
apostle and his co-laborers was that shown by Christ in his death for
ALL, for EVERY sinner, for ALL who fell with Adam when he
sinned.
The phrase “we thus judge” is an
aorist active participle; literally translated, “ones having judged” or
“ones having come to a reasoned conclusion.” There was no theological
debate among the apostles about the scope of Christ's death. That issue
was settled. It was fundamental to the gospel. One cannot limit the
atonement without limiting the gospel, which is why Calvinism, or
Reformed Theology, is gospel-deficient. No preacher of a Limited
Atonement has any right to call himself a gospel preacher. He is, in
fact, a half-gospel preacher – bidding lost men to appropriate a
salvation for which God may or may not have made provision. But this is
exactly what many seminary Presidents and professors are training their
students to do. Why not call them half-gospel seminaries and thus
become theologically consistent and intellectually honest?
The verbs “one died” and “all were
dead” are both aorist active in tense. The aorist tense is punctiliar
and signifies a point in time. A literal translation of “then were all
dead” is “then all died.” It is a reference to the point in time at
which humanity died spiritually, not necessarily to their subsequent
spiritual state. That point in time is determinable by Romans 5:12:
“Wherefore as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.” The
verbs “death passed” and “all have sinned” are both aorist active
tenses. The phrase “all have sinned” is literally “all sinned” at a
point in time. When Adam disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, ALL
of humanity sinned with him. As a consequence, death passed, at the
same point in time, upon ALL of humanity. All men sinned
and all men died in Adam. Christ died for all of
them.
Paul's entire gospel
enterprise was driven by the reasoned conclusion that Christ had died
for ALL who died in Adam. In order for the Calvinist to argue for a
Limited Atonement, he must of necessity argue that only the elect
sinned with Adam. You'd have to question the rightmindedness of any man that
would attempt to make that argument. Expositor R. C. H. Lenski is
spot when he writes: "The Calvinistic efforts to limit this word to
'all of the elect' constitute one of the saddest chapters in exegesis.
The scriptures shine with the 'all' of universality, but Calvinists do
not see it. Their one effort is to find something that would justify
them to reduce 'all' to 'some'." Lenski adds: "The real assurance for
me that Christ died for
me is this alone, that he died for absolutely all"
(Interpretation of I & II Corinthians, p. 1029).
Reconcile is the verb katallasso, meaning
“to bring into equal value or exchange two entities that were at
variance.” The word was used of coin exchanges where equal value was in
view. Paul said: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (5:19). That is, on
the PROVISION side of the gospel, God did his part in dealing with our
trespasses. The atoning blood of Christ was the propitiation
(satisfaction) for the sins of humanity. Our sins were dealt with in
full.
Sinful men are admonished: “Be ye
reconciled to God” (5:20). The verb is passive voice, which signifies
that sinners must allow themselves to BE reconciled by God. God does
all the reconciling. Man does not and cannot reconcile himself to God.
Sinners must be MADE the righteousness of God in Christ (5:21). It
takes God's perfect righteousness to reconcile a sinful man who is at
variance with God. When a man submits himself to the gospel, which is
the APPROPRIATION side, he simply comes to the Father through the Son
with empty hands, confessing that Christ is Lord and trusting Jesus to
perform the work of salvation, doing for the siner what he cannot do for himself. Faith is NOT a work. Saving faith is the
appropriation of the great reconciliatory work that God performed in
Christ on the sinner's behalf. If God didn't PROVIDE it, the sinner can't APPROPRIATE it!
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