One more important question remains
I could not doubt that the death of Jesus on his cross was real.
-- He "poured out his soul unto death", an infinite sacrifice (Isaiah 53:12).
-- He could not have "emptied himself" more. Like when one turns a glass upside down to drain it to its last drop, he made a commitment to drain himself of everything dear to him, even life (Philippians 2:5-8).
-- He endured the "curse" of God, which is Heaven's total condemnation (Galatians 3:13).
-- This is how he "tasted death [the second] for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9).
-- He "gave himself for our sins", holding nothing back (Galatians 1:4).
-- It must be said reverently, softly, in awe: He went to hell in our behalf in order to save us (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:25-27).
-- So great was his love (agape) (1 John 4:9-14)!
But the question haunted me for years: what did he accomplish? Was his sacrifice a real success? Or did Satan succeed in hampering or partially destroying what he accomplished?
Through the centuries, people wiser than I have wrestled with those questions. But someone helped me find an answer in Romans 5:15-18 that seemed to say that Christ's sacrifice was wonderfully successful:
"God's act of grace is out of all proportion to Adam's wrongdoing. For if the wrongdoing of that one man brought death upon so many [Greek: the many meaning all], its effect is vastly exceeded by the grace of God and the gift that came to so many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. And again, the gift of God is not to be compared in its effect with that one man's sin; for the judicial action, following on the one offence, resulted in a verdict of condemnation, but the act of grace, following on so many misdeeds, resulted in a verdict of acquittal. ... It follows, then, that as the result of one misdeed condemnation for all people, so the result of one righteous act is acquittal and life for all." (Romans 5:15-18)
How could one get better Good News than that? But then, that problem, not everybody agrees. Some think they see fine print somewhere. I couldn't imagine how God could contradict that, but through the centuries some have tried to explain away what I thought Paul said. There are several attempts:
1. Strict Calvinism
To put this idea in simple language, Christ did not intend to die for "all people". In fact, some of its prominent spokesmen have said frankly he didn't even love "all people". He loved and died only for a special group known as "the elect".
The idea is that God has predestined some people to be saved; and because this is His "sovereign will", not even they can thwart what he has purposed to do. The predestined ones go to heaven whether they want to or not.
In one sense, that may sound reasonable. Strict Calvinists feel forced to this position because of their view of the irresistible "sovereignty" of God. If he wills something, man cannot counteract his will. They understand the Lord's Prayer to say: "Thy will must and will be done in earth as it is in heaven."
That's one side of the Calvinism coin
The other side has been the "double predestination" idea that God has predetermined that the rest of people must be lost, even if they want to be saved, and may even try hard to be. (I was reared in a church that favored this doctrine) It's "good news" if you are one of the lucky ones; but the others? Too bad.
But when I began to read the Bible for myself; I discovered some things that seemed to be very good news:
-- The very last page of the Bible contradicts this distorted view of Jesus; it brought immense joy to my heart: "The Spirit and the Bride say: Come! And let him who hears say: Come! And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17) It would be awful if it turned out that I wasn't invited: could that "whoever" include me? Yes, I am invited!
-- Jesus promised: "The one who comes to me I will by no means cast out." (John 6:37) "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.... My yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28, 30) The more I thought about this, the more I began to believe that the gospel is really very Good News: has God actually chosen everyone to be saved, that is, who is willing to "come"?
-- There was Isaiah 45:22: "Look to me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth!" I would have to get off of the "end of the earth" not to get that invitation.
-- Then I discovered sixteen first person plural pronouns in Isaiah 53:1-6; each "we" and "us" and "our" must mean everybody, because it's the "we all" who have sinned: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows ... He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." The "us all" must include me.
-- Then there was John 1:29: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" None of us has come from the planet Mars; it must be that he takes away my sin.
-- And John 4:42 says Christ's true title is "the Savior of the world", not just or some especially fortunate ones. I had to believe that I am part or that "world". Of course, we all have the power or choice and we can reject him, and many do.
-- And how could I question John 3:16 that says: "God so loved the world", and "whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life"? But maybe there is some fine print here: what if God has not given some people the ability to "believe"? Then Romans 12:3 cleared up that problem: "God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
-- Who then is going to be lost at last? John 3:17-19 answered: "He who does not believe is condemned.... And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness father than light." And there is John 5:30: only those who "will not come" can be lost.
-- What Jesus said about the Lord's Supper impressed me: "My blood ... is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28) Who are the "many"? Since everybody has sinned (Romans 3:23) it must mean that Christ shed his blood for the same "everybody". He said, "Everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life.... The bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:40, 51, 53) What he gives is universal.
Then I read how Paul says that some people who "eat" do so with unbelief, "not discerning the Lord's body" (1 Corinthians 11:29). Apparently he believed that Christ has done something for every human being.
-- Then I found 1 Timothy 4:10: Christ "is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe". Every person can think of him as already his Savior! It was beginning to look certain that Christ accomplished something on his cross that applies to "all men", and no one is excepted. It reminded me of a song I have heard:
And once again the scene was changed, new earth there seemed to be.
I saw the Holy City beside the tideless sea.
The light of God was on its streets, its gates were opened wide,
And all who would might enter, and no one was denied.
-- Could "the everlasting gospel" be news as good as that? Evidently, for 2 Timothy 1: 10 went further by saying: "Our Savior Jesus Christ... has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." How could that be, if the cemeteries are full? It must be the second death. Yes, when Christ died, he abolished it because he suffered it. The lake of fire was never intended for humans, but "for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). The humans who wind up there do so only because they have despised the deliverance Christ has already given them, as he says: All those who hate me love death." (Proverbs 8:36)
-- Then I discovered Ephesians chapter 1 that gave me tremendous encouragement:
The "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... chose us in him before the foundation of the world... having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will... in [whom] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence" (Verses 3-8).
Who is the "us"? When at the Jordan River, the Father threw his arms around his Son Jesus, he embraced the human race too, and adopted us "in Him".
Coming back to that statement in Romans 5:15-18, there is a second explanation of this Good News. It doesn't try to explain it away, but it jumps to a wrong conclusion:
2. Universalism
This is a reaction against Calvinism, and insists that God will at last take every human being to heaven, and no one will be lost, even the most persistently wicked and rebellious.
But the Bible contradicts this. God wishes that everyone could be saved (1 Timothy 2:3, 4), but Paul elsewhere has to tell the sad truth that many will refuse (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9; 2:8-10). Therefore, much as we might wish that everyone could be saved at last, the Bible won't let us believe that idea. Revelation speaks of people in "number as the sand of the sea" who will finally perish, not because God has rejected them, but because they would not receive the gift he has given them "in Christ" (Revelation 20:8-15).
But there remained another explanation of those Good News texts, one that again presented problems:
3. Arminianism, a highly respected Protestant doctrine
This belief says that the "all men" Paul speaks of in Romans 5 are only those who believe and obey. It arose as a protest against Calvinism, because the double predestination doctrine seemed to create both arrogance and despair. John Wesley tells of people who were so discouraged thinking they were predestined to be lost that they gave up hope; and others, thinking they were "the elect", wanted to sin ad infinitum and still be saved. Arminianism arose in an effort to get the truth back on track again.
God actually wants everyone to be saved. Christ has died for everybody, Arminianism said: everybody call be saved. And Christ died in order to make a provision so that everyone could be saved, but what he accomplished was only provisional. The fine print amounts to a big "if".
Could there be an Achilles heel lurking here in this doctrine? If Christ actually accomplished nothing for anyone unless he first takes the initiative to believe and obey, then so far as the lost are concerned, it's the same as if he had not died. They end up themselves paying the debt of their own sins, and they will never agree with the song that says: "Jesus Paid It All" for them.
The implication is that when the lost die their second death, they will owe no debt to God. They are even; by dying their own second death, they will have balanced their account. They will have fulfilled the Hindu ideal of ultimate karma-they pay up and never needed a Savior.
Does God want them to think that?
My conscience forced me to ask: Did not Jesus truly "pay it all" for everyone?
Some who accept this respected doctrine recognize that there would be no life on this planet unless Christ had died for us all; so yes, our physical life was secured for us by the sacrifice of Christ; but he also gave the animals the same physical life we have. So actually, Christ accomplished nothing more for the human race than he accomplished for the animals, unless we take that all-important initiative upon ourselves to believe and obey. What he did was only provisional, an IF offer.
True, eternal salvation is an offer; but is it only that?
I was disturbed
Doesn't the cross of Christ deserve more honor and glory than that? Isn't it true that all the happiness that humans enjoy on this planet is also the purchase of His sacrifice? Didn't Jesus say, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly"? (John 10:10)
Many who will be lost have "lived luxuriously, ... clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls." (Revelation 18:7, 16) For every human being, believer and unbeliever alike, Christ "has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows" so that the "more abundant life" we already enjoy, believers and unbelievers alike, has been bought for us by His blood. For everyone, "the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.... The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6). Never has even an unbeliever enjoyed any pleasure in life except that Jesus suffered a corresponding sorrow and chastisement.
Could it be that Christ hasn't actually given anything to unbelievers more than he gave the animals? Is the "gift" that Paul speaks of in Romans 5:15, 16 only offered to us? Do we get nothing unless we take the initiative? If a friend offers you a gift but doesn't give it, then he hasn't given anything to you. You have no reason to be grateful. You owe him nothing. Credit card banks deluge you with offers of loans, but they give you no gifts. It's all merely provisional.
I began to think this matter through to its logical conclusion
According to Arminianism, our receiving what Christ offers us is what makes it become a "gift". Otherwise He has done nothing more than make us an offer, a kind intention, and we go away with no sense of real gratitude for a gift given. We had a significant part in our own salvation. I began to wonder: Does this have something to do with the lukewarmness that pervades the last-days church of "Laodicea"?
Arminianism is wonderful in that it was a brave response to Calvinism, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to come short of the full sunlit truth that the apostles preached. God gave His Son, not merely offered to do so; Christ died for us, not just offered to. He actually shed his blood "once for all" to redeem us, not merely offered to; he doesn't have to shed it again constantly in the Roman Catholic mass where each adherent requires a new sacrifice. In the long run, those who enter heaven at last will say: Thanks, Jesus for all that you actually did for us; we owe everything to you.
But if Arminianism is right, then those who enter heaven can say: "Thanks Jesus for your good offer; but you didn't accomplish anything for us until we did the right thing first to make it effective. We did our part; that's why we're here." Thought through to its ultimate conclusion, this turns out to be salvation-by-faith-plus-by-works.
Could this confused idea of what happened on the cross of Christ be the deeply rooted reason for the lack of zeal that permeates the church worldwide? This doctrine must exert an unconscious influence.
And further, what about the lost at last who stand before the judgment throne? Are they lost because they weren't smart enough to accept a mere offer, or will they be lost because they wilfully rejected a gift that was given them?
Lastly, I discovered a fourth alternative that seemed to be pure gospel truth.
4. Christ did accomplish something for every person!
The Bible seems to make clear that the lost will at last fully realize that Christ gave them the gift of justification and salvation "in Him", but they threw it away. He did as much for them as He did for the saved people. Their unbelief caused the loss of their souls, unbelief that was more than merely passive. It was an active refusal to repent and be reconciled to God. The lost not only thoughtlessly "neglected so great a salvation"; the Greek word means "they made light of it", scorned it (Hebrews 2:3; Matthew 22:5). They wanted to go on being rebellious.
The problem boils down to one simple question: Did Christ actually pay the debt for every human sin?
Scripture spells out an unequivocal yes.
This is not an abstract, academic much-ado-about-nothing issue. The answer gives the key to reaching the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish mind. Yes, all those people in "Babylon" whom the Lord calls, "My people" (Revelation 18:4). The answer also spells the difference between a church being lukewarm, or on fire for the One who died for us.
Paul wasn't lukewarm!
The love (agape) of Christ compelled [constraineth] him. When he said that "One died for all", he reasoned that it had to mean that "all died", so that "those who live" cannot in peace of conscience go on living "for themselves". They are constrained henceforth to "live for him who for their sake died and was raised to life" (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15). Paul saw something that set him on fire for the Lord until that last hour in the Roman Mamertine prison when he laid his head on the block before the executioner, and died for the One who had died for him. "God forbid that I should glory except in the cross", he had said. No glorying in his own response, or his own faith, or his own obedience. That's why he wrote those words that we already noted:
"The grace of God and the gift [with it] came to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ [in Greek the many means all people].... The judicial action, following on ... so many misdeeds, resulted in a verdict of acquittal.... The result of one righteous act is acquittal and life for all."
All the other major Bible versions agree with the Revised English Bible. They render "judicial verdict of acquittal" as "justification". It's not that Christ's sacrifice makes everybody to be righteous, but he treats every person as though he were righteous, because God accepted the human race "in Christ". He is already reconciled to you; now, says Paul: "We implore you on Christ's behalf; [you] be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5: 19, 20)
What this fourth view of what happened on the cross has meant to me
Confronted with objections from some that Paul didn't mean "all people", only those "all" who first do something right to make it effective, I looked again. Paul was plain: the "all" upon whom comes this glorious "verdict of acquittal" are the same "all" who sinned "in Adam", they "all are justified by God's grace alone, through his act of liberation in the person of Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23, 24). Seven truths here seemed very clear:
-- "All ... sinned." That included me.
-- The same "all are justified."
-- And they are "justified freely" (they pay nothing, they merit nothing).
-- It's by grace (that means free to all undeserving people, without exception).
-- And it's not only by grace, it's by grace "alone".
-- The "act of liberation" is for all, because
-- It's "in the person of Christ Jesus", "the Savior of the world".
There were those who worried that believing this would encourage people to go on sinning. I thought about that. What they didn't understand was that genuine faith "works through agape". One can't believe that on the cross Christ legally justified him by grace, without something happening in his heart. It constrains him to be obedient to all the commandments of God, for "agape is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10). When you appreciate that "in Christ" God treats you as though you were just, then he can transform you and make you just "in Christ". It's called justification by faith.
I am indebted to Someone else for this breakthrough in understanding
I must make plain that I wasn't smart enough to think this through. I wandered in perplexity because of this tension between Calvinism and Arminianism until a friend shared with me a comment from an author who a century ago recovered the heart-warming truth of what Paul said. This brought it into focus for me:
"By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." (Romans 5:18) There is no exception here. As the condemnation came upon all, so the justification comes upon all. Christ has tasted death for every man. He has given himself for all. Nay, he has given himself to every man. The gift has come upon all. The fact that it is a free gift is evidence that there is no exception. If it came upon only those who have some special qualification, then it would not be a free gift.
"It is a fact, therefore, plainly stated in the Bible, that the gift of righteousness and life in Christ has come to every man on earth. There is not the slightest reason why every man that has ever lived should not be saved unto eternal life, except that they would not have it. So many spurn the gift offered so freely."
"God has dealt to every man a measure of faith, and to all the same measure, for the measure of grace is the measure of faith, and unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Eph. 4:7). Christ is given without reserve to every man. (Heb. 2:9). Therefore, as the same measure of faith and grace is given to all men, all have an equal opportunity to gain the inheritance."
"Do you ask what then can prevent every man from being saved? The answer is: Nothing, except the fact that all men will not keep the faith. If all would keep all that God gives them, all would be saved."
Such precious insight! But the same author said more:
"God wills that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). And He accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1: 11). Do you mean to teach universal salvation? Someone may ask. We mean to teach just what the Word of God teaches-that the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men (Titus 2:11). God has wrought out salvation for every man and has given it to him, but the majority spurns it and throw it away. The judgment will reveal the fact that full salvation was given to every man and that the lost have deliberately thrown away their birthright possession."
"Someone may lightly say: Then we are all right; whatever we do is right, so far as the law [of God] is concerned, since we are redeemed. It is true that all are redeemed, but not all have accepted redemption. Many say of Christ: We will not have this Man to reign over us, and thrust the blessing of God from them. But redemption is for all. All have been purchased with the precious blood-the life-of Christ, and all may be, if they will, free from sin and death."
Our search for the truth of the cross has brought us to a place where profound gratitude must fill our hearts. No wonder people sing those four grand Hallelujah Choruses in Revelation 19:1-6, each grander than Handel's in his Messiah,
"And I heard, as it were the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying: Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!"
When we begin to realize what Christ accomplished on his cross, we can't wait until we join our voices to swell the anthem:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" (Revelation 5:12)
Start singing now; you will be happy forever.