I was looking at 1 Timothy 2:1-6 yesterday and came to the conclusion that there's no way to see Christ's death as only for the elect, if you're reading the passage in context. I'm only covering this particular passage at this time and the exegesis will be simple, but it's an important Truth that requires illustrating.
What is Unlimited Atonement?
But before I go there, what is it? Unlimited atonement is the belief based on Biblical Truth that Christ died for the sins of the whole world. The opposite of that is the "L" in Calvinism's TULIP, which stands for Limited Atonement. Limited Atonement teaches that Christ only died for the elect. Those who agree with unlimited atonement would say that Christ died for the sins of the whole world (John 3:16, etc), but that this is only truly applicable to those who believe in Christ God's death and resurrection because sins can only be forgiven as a person believes. In other words, proponents of unlimited atonement do not teach universalism: that all men are saved regardless of whether they believe or not. Rather, they teach that Christ's death was for all of the sins of mankind, but truly only effective to those who believe, receiving that forgiveness.
Btw, check out http://www.gotquestions.org/calvinism.html if you're still unsure of what all this means. Or you can just google it... =P
Btw, check out http://www.gotquestions.org/calvinism.html if you're still unsure of what all this means. Or you can just google it... =P
"...I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may live a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. (1 Timothy 2:1-2 NASB)"
Firstly, Paul urges, commands, and exhorts believers to pray for ALL men (1), including those in places of authority (2), so that we can live Godly lives, resting on God for our hope and peace. This seems to denote a two part peace: External and internal. External because praying for those in power to know Him is something that can potentially affect our external circumstances (cultural, political, and otherwise) for more exposure to others for the Gospel. Internal because praying changes our attitudes, thoughts, and ideas and conforms them to God's standard so that we can love God and others in an increasingly excellent way for the glory of God to the conformity of His Son.
Secondly, praying for all people "is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior (3)".
Thirdly, God "desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (4)"
These last two verses answer the "what is this truth" question (the Gospel) and further demonstrate God's unconditional love for all of mankind by sending His Son to die for them:
"...For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimonygiven at the proper time... (5-6)"
A few closing thoughts:
- If I'm adding anything to the Biblical text, please call me out on it. I want to be dogmatic and sure about things that the Bible teaches and to attack those doctrines (Eph 6:12) which are not in conformity to the Word of God. Why? Because if I can only be sure about certain parts of the Scripture, it should bring doubt to all of the Word of God. It is a unit, inspired by God, and if the salvation parts are reliable (the Gospel, etc), so are these other parts which can get messy and which I may not even completely understand (election, the Trinity, etc).
- I post this because the Bible says it and because I know it's a fairly controversial topic that 1 Tim 2 speaks of directly.
- I do not post this because I want division and argument, but I want Biblical Truth- which, will probably bring on these former things. If God's Word really is inerrant we shouldn't be afraid to trust in what it says regarding these issues and more. I think God is big enough that He can put comprehensive text in front of the people He made.
- Are your thoughts about God (theology) informed ONLY by the Word of God or also by your theological system, upbringing, and personal preference or opinion? I can be asked the same question, of course, but I've convinced myself already on most of the things I consider "Truth" to be so because that's what you get when you read the Bible just trying to understand what the author's saying (with a literal, normal hermeneutic). You shouldn't expect anything else.
1 John 2:2
ReplyDeleteThat settles it.
Resurgence,
ReplyDeleteI agree as well! That's a hard passage to dance around, theologically. Pretty clear. I think the Timothy passage is very clear as well, along with many more.
True dat y'all. True dat.
ReplyDeleteI was reading this sort of joke blog post I linked to Brandon's wall defending the lame-o argunments made against Dispensationalism (http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2006/11/twenty-five-stupid-reasons-for-dissing.html) and I was laughing at how blunt he was and how many people try to dance around reading the Bible literally. It's a book. God revealed Himself to us with it. God means what He says. Haha, ya know. And, the same is true here and in whatever we're studying in the Scriptures. We need to let it speak for itself instead of creating and fantaszing other meanings into the Word of God.
Putting stuff in there that isn't is like playing with unicorns and faeries.
I agree and I certainly hold to unlimited atonement. However, the Calvinist makes a seemingly logical argument for limited atonement based on this passage. His reasoning goes something like this:
ReplyDeletePaul tells us to pray for all men. But it would be impossible to pray for every single individual that is currently living. Therefore Paul must have meant to pray for all classes of men such as kings, political leaders, those in authority, etc. So when Paul says “all” in this context, it does not really mean everyone. Likewise when Paul says that God desires “all” men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, he really means “all classes” of men. Because according to the theory of limited atonement, God really does not want ALL men to be saved! God only wants SOME men to be saved.
Okay, that is the Calvinist’s argument which I do not buy into. My reply is that the Calvinist inconsistently applies his definition of “all.” They certainly use and “all inclusive” type of “all” for Romans 3:23. If they were truly consistent then they would have to translate Romans 3:23 as: “all classes of men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In other words, not every man has sinned, but only men from every class of society have sinned. The Calvinist would never say that!!!
It seems to me that in order to be a Calvinist, a person would need to be exposed to the Calvinistic system first. Anyone reading scripture in a plain, normal sense would NEVER end up with the conclusions that the Calvinist does.
I totally agree man. I've been wrestling with and encountering this train of thought a lot lately by good Bible Believing, born again folk (Eph 6:12)... And it's been tough to be straight with them about what the Bible says and to really read the Bible plainly and as it stands because they presuppose (as do I know!) so much from whatever theological system they were brought up in.
ReplyDeleteThat joke blog post I posted above defending Dispensationalism from poor arguments mentioned this in one of his comments to another reader:
"Here's my own bottom-line: am I wed to everything that every Disp has ever taught? No way. But I believe their fundamental approach to Scripture is the Biblical approach; and when you start talking like my old cult ("Yes, it says X... but what it really means is gamma") my eyes glaze over."
What I'm saying is I want to be sold out to Christ and to know Him and His Word without presupposition other than being consistent, honest, and to really know Him. And to do that with the Bible requires me to read it plainly otherwise I start putting what I want it to say in the text.
I want to read the Bible literally, in every sense, unless given reason from the text not to, and never to say, or imply, "Oh, it says this, but actually means that"... I dunno man. That's just a really self defeating argument and really downplays God's goodness and sovereignty!