What is a Reformed Baptist..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Good evening everyone and welcome to our Bible study on Wednesdays. This evening we are going to continue with our studies on the five doctrines of grace.

or the five points of Calvinism. We have done two points of Calvinism so far, total depravity and unconditional election, and this evening we are going to be studying together limited atonement. Before we get into limited atonement, let me just remind you of the first two points that we have done in this second level of Calvinism or the doctrines of grace. We have said, or our brother taught us two weeks ago, that the doctrine of total depravity or radical depravity. Something that I want you to have in your mind from this doctrine of radical depravity or total depravity, it is that upon the fall, Romans 5, 12 says that, you know, sin, because of the disobedience of Adam, sin entered the world, and through that sin, death is spread to all people, and all people sin.

Because of the disobedience of Adam and that sin that entered into the world, fallen men lost the image of God. Ephesians and Colossians says that men have been made in the image of God, and aspects of the image of God is holiness, righteousness, and the true knowledge of God. Those three aspects were given to Adam, but because of the disobedience and because of sin, those aspects, holiness, righteousness, and the true knowledge of God, they were lost. So that means that the offspring of Adam, they are not holy, they are not righteous, and the knowledge that we have of God we suppress in our unrighteousness. This is Romans 1.

So that means that because we are not holy and we are not righteous, and the knowledge that we have of God is suppressing unrighteousness, that we are morally unable, that we don't have the ability to submit ourselves to the law of God, that we are in enmity with God, that we are under the wrath of God, that our will is in bandage to our sin, to our sin nature. So we do, apart from Jesus Christ, everything that corresponds to our sinful nature. Everyone outside of Christ is a slave of sin. When the Lord Jesus Christ saves us, He gives us a new nature, and we are free from the bondage of sin. Now, because people are totally depraved or radically depraved, and therefore they are unable to respond to the commandments of God, then the election of those who are saved does not depend on them, simply because they are not able to respond to the commandment of the gospel.

So the election that is predestined in eternity past has no conditions in time that are derived from the person. Why? Last week we said faith cannot be produced by the person. Faith is a legal instrument, an instrument of righteousness. And because man is totally depraved, radically depraved, he cannot produce faith.

Now, the nature of faith itself requires the pre-existence of regeneration. We said that true faith is preceded by regeneration. And regeneration corresponds to election. So for that reason, faith is not a condition of election. election in the gospel is unconditional.

There is nothing that we can do. There is nothing that we can offer God in order to be elect or chosen. It is just the pure mercy of God that in eternity past, in union with Christ, He chose us before the foundation of the world. He knew who we were going to be, the sins that we were going to commit, and in His mercy and in His grace, He chose us. So there is no condition for that election.

If there is going to be something that we're going to set as a condition, that condition will be something that happens in eternity past. and that is our union with Jesus Christ. As Paul says in Ephesians, and we've quoted that verse many times, that blessed be the God and Father for Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us, all of us in the church, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in Christ who chose us before the foundation of the world, in the beloved, in Christ we were chosen. So our election is not upon a faith that we can produce in time, but rather it's just the mercy and the grace of God in eternity past. Now, having said that, now we reach to the third of the doctrines of grace or the third doctrines of points of Calvinism.

And perhaps this is the one that is more controversial. The name of it is limited atonement. limited atonement. And basically what it says is that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's only for the good or for the benefit of the church or the elect. If we could put it in a question, limited atonement or unlimited atonement from the Armenian side would answer to the question, for whom did Christ die?

So today we're going to try to answer the question, for whom did the Lord Jesus Christ died? When he was on the cross, when he died on the cross and he said it is finished, for whom in the world was he dying for? Now, the answer that we can give to that question is, of course, it has two sides. Armenian brothers or Armenian theology would say that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for every person or every human being in the world. The Calvinistic side of that would say that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for the elect or for the church.

Now, having those two answers is just not that simple, beloved, because when we go to the Bible and go through different verses, it seems that the Bible speaks very clearly from one side and from the other. Let me just show you something. Go to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. Let me show you how strong it is the evidence that Armenians have when they try to answer this question of for whom did Jesus Christ died.

And they will say, Jesus Christ died for everyone, died for the world, died for all people. This is what the Armenian would say. And they have strong cases. They have strong evidence. First John chapter two, verse two, it says, He, speaking of Jesus Christ, listen to this.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So then our Arminian brother will say, and come and say, you see, Jesus Christ is a propitiation for our sins, but not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world, the whole world, all the world. Go to Titus 2, Titus chapter 2, in verse 11. They have lots of verses and lots of evidence that will help them make a case to answer the question the way that they do it, that Christ died for the whole world. Titus chapter 2, verse 11, it says.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. This is Titus chapter 2 verse 11 and I read it again. For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people it sounds that this salvation is like of course what is the text says for all people now go to timothy 4 10 and i really wanted to show you this from the bible so you can see the evidence that our brothers armenians will bring and this is not the only evidence there are many verses that they will bring first timothy chapter 4 verse 10 first timothy chapter 4 Verse 10, it says, For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hopes set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. You see the challenge? You see the complication?

I'm saying that our brothers, the Armenians, they will say that Jesus Christ died on the cross for all people, for every person. And I've showed you three verses that support what they say, very clearly support what they say. Now, I'm saying to you that the Calvinistic person or the Calvinistic theologian would say that the atonement of Jesus Christ, that the death of Jesus Christ is limited. It is not for all people, but it's for those who are elect in eternity past or for the church. We would say as Baptists that he died for the church.

You see the complication there. I know you might have also in your mind the very famous verse in John, John 3 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. That verse says that God so loved the world that he gave his son and our brothers Armenians will say, you see, Jesus Christ came to this world and He gave His life. He died on the cross for all people, for every human being, for every soul under the sun.

He died for them. But in the same way that they have evidence on their side, we also have lots of evidence on the Calvinistic side. Just go to John 10. Go to John 10. John 10, verse 15.

Remember that we are trying to answer the question for whom did Jesus Christ died on the cross or gave his life for on the cross? Now, John 10, 15 says, Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father and I, Jesus Christ, I lay down my life for the sheep. He doesn't say, I lay down my life for everyone or for every single person, but they say the sheep. And we know that later on in the chapter, they said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. Speaking of those who are in Christ.

Now go to Luke 22. Actually, that song that we just sang, We Hunger and Thirst, is speaking of communion. It's not only a very beautiful song that we're going to be singing Lord willing this Lord's Day, because we're going to have communion, but it speaks a lot of the nature of the atonement. And this is the passage that is found in Luke 22 in verse 19 and 20. He says when the Lord Jesus Christ is instituting the communion or Lord's Supper, he goes and says, and he took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for who? For you, speaking to the disciples. Do these in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the body.

Were for the disciples, the body was broken for the disciples and their blood was shed for the disciples, as it says here in Luke 22 goes to go to Titus two, and I'll show you the last verse Titus two. Verse 14. Speaking of Jesus Christ here, it says, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works. Saying here, attaching the giving of Christ to us, the church, and redeeming us, the church. Now, beloved, if we take verses and we put it in a balance, we will find verses on their side and on our side.

Verses that is people that seem to speak that Christ died on the cross for every single person, for every single soul. And some other verses that seem to speak of the limited atonement that is directed to the church. So how are we going to answer or how are we going to tackle this question? How are we going to do it? My aim this evening is not only to answer that question from the Calvinistic side, of course, but I want to give you a framework so I can just go into your mind and work through your mind and the things that you know, so you reach the conclusion that we will reach, which is the Calvinistic conclusion.

but not only trying to get to that particular answer, which is the Calvinistic answer, but also I want to give you a framework that when someone comes to you and asks you about the atonement of Jesus Christ, you can understand where they are coming from, and then you will be able to explain to them why the Calvinist believes what he or she believes. So no, the question is, For whom did Jesus Christ died on the cross? And the answer that we give as Calvinists is that Jesus Christ died for the elect or for the church. And therefore, we say that this atonement was his sacrifice. The cross is specific, is particular.

The Armenian would say that the atonement is general, is for the whole world. We would say that the atonement is limited to the church, what is particular to the church. Now I'm going to give you a framework of five steps We're going to go through five steps. And the first three ones, we will agree with the Armenian brothers. We will agree with them.

But when we get into step number four and five, you will see the Calvinistic approach that we have to understand the atonement. Now, I'm going to be teaching or I'm going to be mentioning some concepts that might be a little bit difficult to understand, but I require much of your attention because this is very important. This is the heart of the gospel. The atonement, what happened on that day 2,000 years ago, defines who we are. If you are in Christ, what happened 2,000 years on that cross with our Savior defines who you are today and defines who you will be in eternity.

So the Christian should make all effort to understand what happened at the cross 2,000 years ago. Now, beloved, what is the framework What is the framework that I'm going to be giving you to answer this particular question? Five different steps. The first thing that we're going to do is that we are going to define what atonement is. If we are going to say that atonement is limited, then we need to know what the atonement is.

So I'm going to explain to you what is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ at the cross. Once we know what the atonement is, then we will go into the purpose of that atonement. What is the purpose of that which Christ did on the cross 2000 years ago? If we understand the purpose of it, then we can understand the value of the atonement. We know what it is, we know its purpose, and we know then the value of the atonement.

And then the fourth step that we're going to take is that we are going to analyze the intention of God with the atonement of Christ. What was the intention and the effect of the atonement? Why did God the Father send his beloved son to die upon a cross? So that is what was the intention. So then if we understand the intention of the atonement, we will go into the fifth step, which I love because this is very specific to Reformed Baptist theology.

It is the covenantal nature of the atonement. So then we will go, what it is, What is its purpose? What is its value? What is the intention of the atonement? And then the covenantal nature of the atonement.

OK, so let's do it. Atonement. What is the atonement? This is not a word that we use much. We don't go and say, oh, that's the atonement or atone for that.

Actually, the word atonement is something that a theologian or a person many hundreds of years ago put together from three words at one moment. Atonement, that which happened at one moment at the cross. The death of the cross happened at one specific moment. And this is the word atonement. Atonement is related to the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's the word atonement. But what is the substance and the meaning of it? We know that the Bible says that Jesus Christ, the man, is the only mediator between God and men. Jesus Christ the man is the mediator between God and men. So, when he was at the cross, dying on the cross, he was mediating on behalf of men before God.

So, we need to understand what Jesus Christ did or accomplished at the cross on behalf of people and before God the Father. And this is when I'm going to give you two theological words that I need to give it to you. There's no other word that I can use that if we want to understand, but I want you to picture this. We have Jesus Christ here at the cross, and then he did something on behalf of the people who he died for. Remember that we're trying to answer the question for whom did Jesus Christ die.

So we have the people for whom he died here, and then we have God here, God the Father. He is the mediator between God and the people. Have that picture in your mind, because in order for us to understand the atonement, we need to see it that way. What Jesus Christ did on the cross on behalf of people is something that in theology or in the Bible is called expiation. The expiation of Christ.

Expiation simply means removal. He expiated our sins. Now, when we sin, we have the guilt of our sin. So by the Lord Jesus Christ going to the cross, he took the guilt of the sinners or the sin from sinners. He took it upon himself.

He took the sins of people. This is very important. You've said this many times. We've said this many times that the Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins on the cross. This is what is called the expiation of the atonement.

The atoning sacrifice of Christ expiated our sins, our guilt. He took our sins upon himself. 2 Corinthians 5.21 will say that Jesus Christ became sin on our behalf. That God made him who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5.21. So Christ, for his people, he takes his sin, expiation. But not only that, there's another aspect that is in relation to God. When he takes these sins, he propitiates the wrath of God.

Another word that I can use is that he satisfies the wrath of God. So the sins that he takes from his people, that he expiates from his people, they need to be paid. They are unrighteousness that needs to be paid. And God, who is a righteous God, He needs to be propitiated. This is not a word that you use in English, but we do use it in Spanish, in old Spanish.

So when someone needs to be propitiated, it means that he needs to be satisfied because there is a demand of something that needs to be accomplished. So the righteous God who is seated on the throne, He needs to be paid for the sins that sinners have committed against Him. So Jesus Christ comes on the cross and He takes those sins, and then the wrath of God is poured upon Him, and then the wrath of God comes and consumes the guilt of the sins of sinners. So then God can enter into a state of reconciliation with sinners. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

So it is expiation and propitiation. These two elements are very important for the atoning sacrifice. So now you may see that these people from whom Jesus Christ died, he took their guilt and their sins upon the cross. And those sins were propitiated by, they received the wrath of God and there was propitiation there. I hope that you have that in your mind because now by having these two, participants in our picture, we can understand the purpose then of the atonement.

The purpose of the atonement, the theologians have said that it has two different purposes, a primary and a secondary. Remember that we're going through five different steps. We've said what the atonement is, something that happened at one moment on behalf of people taking their sins and propitiating the wrath of God that they deserve. This is the atonement. Now, what is the purpose of that?

Then the purpose of the atonement, we see it in light of these two characters, God and people. The primary purpose of the atonement is the glory of God. God needs to be, or he is glorified in everything that he does. This is the whole idea of Ephesians 1. When you go and see and read and go through Ephesians 1, you will see that we have received an inheritance in Christ Jesus An inheritance that was predestined before the foundation of the world by God the Father, who works everything according to the counsel of His will, so that we might be for the praise of His glory.

the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and our salvation. It is for the glory of the father, the one whose right has been propitiated. So it is for the glory of him is the same idea that Paul speaks about in Philippians two, when he's given us this teaching to be humble. He's teaching us and calling us to be humble just as the Lord Jesus Christ is humble and then he says Jesus Christ who he was God, but he did not hold to the fact that he was God himself and he humbled himself and he made like one of us he took on our nature and he was obedient even to obedience to a death and death of a cross and because of that God the Father has exalted Jesus Christ and he has given him a name that is above All names, so that at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And then the apostle Paul would say something.

And that also that every tongue might confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. God himself humbled and he made himself one of us obedient, died on the cross, and then he was exalted for the glory of God the Father. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ has a primary purpose. The atonement has a primary purpose, and that is the glory of God. But it also has a secondary purpose, and we cannot remove the secondary purpose of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the salvation of sinners.

God glorifies himself. Yes, we accept that and we preach that and we rejoice in the fact that God glorifies himself through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we also have to acknowledge that he sent his son to the world to save the world. This is what John 3, 17 says after John 3, 16, that God had sent his son to the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. So we have to acknowledge it's not about being hyper Calvinist and then just to focus on the glory of God.

Yes, everything is for the glory of God. This is the primary purpose. But our God is loving and is merciful and is everything that we are not. So he sent his beloved son to die and to save the world. I said to you that in the definition of the atonement and in the purpose of the atonement, our brothers, Armenians, they will agree with it.

We'll see it in a similar way. So now, if we understand what the atonement is, this expiation of our guilt and the propitiation of the wrath of God the Father, and we understand that the purpose of this atonement is what? One, for the glory of God, and second, for the salvation of sinners. John the Baptist says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We have to acknowledge that.

We have to acknowledge that. Takes away the sin of the world. If we understand what the atonement is, and then if we understand the purpose, primary and secondary purpose of the atonement, then we can move into the value of the atonement, or what I would call the sufficiency of the atonement. And this is very important to understand, because sometimes the controversy between Armenians and Calvinists is because we do not understand our terms when we refer about the sufficiency of the atonement, and then the next point that we're going to be making, which is the intent of the atonement. And when I say the sufficiency of the atonement, we as Calvinists, we acknowledge that the atonement has an infinite value that is sufficient to save every single person.

And this is derived by the person or from the fact of who the person is that died on the cross. Jesus Christ is not only man, but he's also God. And because he's God, the one who died upon the cross has an infinite value. So then the atoning sacrifice that he paid upon the cross, it is sufficient to save every single person. And you know what?

more worlds of these ones, because he's God, he's infinite in value. So we acknowledge that the atonement, it is infinite and in value, and it is sufficient to save every single person in the world. So we agree with our brothers, Armenians, of what the atonement is, its purpose, primary and secondary, and also agree with them of the value and the sufficiency of the atonement. Where we differ and we have a different point of view, it is in the intention of the atonement. Beloved, it is not about what God could have done.

We need to ask ourselves what God wanted to do. God can do many things, but he chooses not to do it. It is because he has an intention in doing particular things. Think about this. God could save every single person right now on the planet.

He's God. He can do it. But yet he has told us to go and preach the gospel and then to proclaim the good news. And you know what? Many people are going to die and they're going to go to hell.

Yet God could save them all. So it's not about what God can do, but rather what God has intended to do. Because in the intention of God, there is a holy and there is a perfect purpose. God in eternity past is the one who does everything according to the counsel of his will. And everything that he does is for the glory of his name, and for the benefit of those who are going to be saved.

So now, beloved, three points. There are many points that we could go that will help us understand the intention, the intention of God in the atonement. We know what atonement is. We know its purpose. We know that it's sufficient for all.

But now let's go into the intention of God with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to give you three points. The first point is that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ intended or was with the purpose of justifying us so we can be reconciled with God. The death of Jesus Christ, it is attached necessarily to justification and therefore reconciliation with God. Let's go to Romans 5 and I'll explain what I mean.

Romans chapter 5, verse 6. Now, beloved, we have to understand. Let me just give you a little bit of theological background here from the two positions, so then we can understand the text here. Our brothers, the Armenians, pay attention to this, please. Our brothers, the Armenians, will say that Jesus Christ died on the cross for every single person.

So then, whatever is attached to the death of Christ, it is given to those for whom he died. This is just a premise. This is just that which the death produces for the recipients, defines what they receive because of the nature of the death of Christ. So if Jesus Christ died for every single person, that which the death accomplishes, accomplishes for everyone. We say that the Lord Jesus Christ died for the elect, and then we say that that which the death of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes, it is effective for the church.

Now it's very important here because basically what our brothers Armenians will say is that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ make people savable. gives a potentiality of salvation, that Jesus Christ paid for the sins of every single person. And the only thing that is missing on that equation is that person has faith. And when you have the two elements from men and from Christ, you combine those two things, and then that person is saved. There's a lot of issues with that, beloved, because faith, as we have said already, is not something that can be produced in the person.

Faith is a blessing that is derived already from our union with Christ and our election that comes from eternity past. So even the faith that we have in Christ is a gift that is given to us by the power of the Spirit. We cannot produce faith in and of ourselves. But not only that, we know that there are many people in hell. So if those people are in hell, and our brothers Armenians will say that Christ died for them, so Jesus paid for their sins, but they're in hell.

So that makes, that gives you only three options. The first one is that Christ failed, that what he did on the cross did not save them, that he failed. This is one possibility. Or the second possibility is that God, I can't even say it with my mouth, that God does not say the truth in his word. that he does not keep his promises because those from whom Jesus Christ died, they are, they receive eternal life as we will see, but there are people paying for that in hell.

And I will give you the third one once we reach the fifth point. But now, having said that, let's go to Romans 5. And let me explain to you this first blessing or this first effect or intention upon the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is justification. Justification is attached to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with justification, reconciliation.

Verse 6, for while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Pay attention to the words that are related to death or he died. Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person. Though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, since therefore we have now been justified by his blood.

We have now been justified by His blood. Much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Beloved, the intention of God the Father with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is that those for whom he died will be justified.

Jesus Christ did not die to give the possibility of justification. He accomplishes justification with his death. He says it is finished. He accomplishes justification, so we are justified by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father in eternity past, He had the intention and the purpose of accomplishing justification by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that which He works according to the counsel of His will He accomplishes.

He is not contingent or he does not depend upon creation. That which he decrees and that which he aims and wants to do and achieve is that what he achieves. Of course, he does it. We see here that by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are justified. And not only justified, but we enter into a state of reconciliation with God the Father.

So those for whom Jesus Christ died, they will be justified and they will be reconciled. Our brothers Armenians will say that there are people for whom Jesus Christ died that they will not be justified and reconciled because they are in hell. So they are repaying their debt because Jesus Christ upon the cross, He expiates for the sins of people, whoever those people are. And if these people do not have faith and they go to hell, they are paying their debt in hell. Christ paid for them upon the cross and they are paying again in hell.

This is contrary to the justice of God. The intention of God is those for whom Jesus Christ died, they will be justified and also reconciled. Of course, faith has to appear. There is no salvation if it's not faith. But as we know, faith cannot be produced by ourselves.

It is something that is predestined before the foundation of the world in Jesus Christ. This is the first aspect, a justification that reconciles. but also the blood and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ does not only accomplish our justification and this reconciliation with God the Father, it also produces in us a sanctification that transforms our lives. It is the wounds and it is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that is related to our sanctification. Go to 1 Peter.

1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, 24 and 25. 1 Peter 2, 24 and 25. He himself is speaking of Jesus Christ. Just pay attention to the cross language.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. That is the cross. that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were a strain like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls." Now, you pay attention to the language of the apostle there.

The death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, or on the tree, It is with the purpose that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. It is through or by the means of his wounds or his sacrifice upon the cross that we have been healed. And what the apostle has in mind here is not physical healing when we pray for healing or something that a person is sick. The concept that the apostle has in mind is this concept of completeness or that we are made whole in Jesus Christ. Now, beloved, The death of the Lord Jesus Christ does not only accomplish our justification and reconciliation with God, but the death of the Lord Jesus Christ also accomplishes our sanctification in our new life.

What I'm saying to you is that for those people for whom Jesus Christ died will not only be justified but will also be sanctified and transformed. So we cannot say that there are people for whom Jesus Christ died that are not justified or not sanctified because these two elements are attached to the nature of the atonement. Third element, eternal life. Let's go to, please, to John chapter 10. So it is not only justification, it is not only sanctification, but the debt of our Lord Jesus Christ also gives us, effectively, with no risk of not accomplishing it, a glory that is eternal.

John chapter 10, verse 15, it says, Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Now, jump to verse 27. Go to verse 27. He says, I lay down my life for the sheep. He's given his life.

He's dying upon the cross for his sheep. Now, verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

I and the Father are one. The sheep for whom Jesus Christ gave his life are given eternal life. Beloved, you cannot disconnect the death of the Lord Jesus Christ from justification, from sanctification, and ultimately from eternal life. those for whom Jesus Christ died will receive in time justification, sanctification, and eternal life. If we come to the conclusion that there are people in hell from whom Jesus Christ died who did not receive justification, who did not receive sanctification, and of course did not receive eternal life, then we are saying that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ does not accomplish those things.

And then, where is our faith? What do we believe? We believe for our justification, for our sanctification, and ultimately for our eternal life, on the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing in us that produces something that can give us life. We rely entirely on Him.

And if we say that He died for us, but then I could still go to hell, I don't know where we find rest. Because then it will be about the person believing, having the ability to receive the gospel. And then it's not about the power of the gospel, but it's about the power of the person to understand a message and to receive it. We saw what the atonement is, the purpose of the atonement, the glory of God and the salvation of sinners, the value of the atonement that is sufficient for everyone. But the intention of God in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is the justification, the sanctification, the eternal life of those who receive the benefits of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So therefore, those who receive those benefits are the ones for whom Jesus Christ died. Go to Ephesians 5, please. Ephesians 5 will put it clearly. When the apostle is comparing the relationship of husbands and wives and Jesus Christ and the church, beloved, he says in verse 25, verse 27, pay attention to this, not so much to the analogy on the side of husband and wife, but more to the side of Christ and the church, he says, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Jesus Christ loved the church and gave himself up, for who?

For her, for the church, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself up for the church to sanctify the church and to present the church holy and blameless. Now beloved let me just go to the to the fifth and to the last point that I want to make and this is the covenantal nature of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Matthew and I'll explain to you Matthew 26 Matthew 26 verse 26. Here we have the institution of the Lord's Supper.

Here the Lord is going to remove the Old Testament Passover, and he's going to institute with his disciples the communion of the Lord's table as a sign of the new covenant for the church. And pay attention to what it says here. Now, verse 26 to 29, Matthew 26, 26, it says, Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take it. This is my body. And he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. But pay attention to what he says. He says, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ is both the establishment of the new covenant and is also for the forgiveness of sins of those who belong to the new covenant. Go to Luke 22 and let's see another perspective of what he says.

Luke 22, 19 and 20. Then you will understand what I'm trying to say here. Luke 22, verse 19 and 20. It says, And he took bread. It's the same narrative of the same moment.

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, Pay attention, this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. The cup is the new covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is the new covenant.

When he comes to the cross and he dies upon the cross, he establishes a new covenant. This is Hebrews. A better covenant that removes the old covenant. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ institutes that covenant. And then in Matthew 26, it says that this new covenant is for the forgiveness of sins.

So the establishment of the new covenant with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is forgiveness of sins for those who are covenant members. So that means that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross accomplishes the forgiveness of sins for those who will be members of the new covenant. And this is the church. It is the church, the one that is partaker of the new covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The new covenant in his blood accomplishes forgiveness of sins.

If we say, beloved, that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for every single person, then we have to conclude that every single person has been forgiven their sins because the blood and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is equivalent to forgiveness of sins. And then if these people who have been forgiven of their sins are in hell paying for that, then God is punishing them with a double punishment. He has punished Jesus Christ on the cross for them, and they are paying for their sins in hell. We don't say that. It is the church, the one that finds forgiven in Jesus Christ.

And those who are in hell, they are paying for their sins on their own. They are paying for their works and their deeds. Now, beloved, I know and I comprehend that this is a very difficult topic. And as I said to you, this is one of the most controversial topics for Calvinism, that we believe that the atonement is limited. But I want you to see always that when we see these controversial and difficult things, don't see it from the side of the things that we deserve.

Because this is natural in our mind and in our hearts. We say, wow, we deserve to be saved. We don't. The thing here is that God himself sent his son to die for some. He shouldn't have done that at all.

We are rebellious. We have broken his law. We are unrighteous. We do not deserve to be saved. But yet he sent his beloved son to save.

the church, so that by saving his church he will be just and the justifier of the ungodly, Romans 3. So that in the forbearance of sins, of past sins, he will manifest and he will show to the world in the salvation of the church that he is merciful, that he is good, that he is kind, that these sinners who do not deserve to be saved are saved. Here, the thing that is contrary to the rule is that there are some people that are safe. All of us should be sent to hell. We deserve that.

God is holy. We are not. But in his love, he has decided to choose a people for himself. And when he chose that people for himself in eternity past, He said, I'm going to make a way to pay for their sins of these people, my church, who are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. So my son will go and enter into creation and will die upon that cross.

So he will die for them, the elect, and my wrath and my judgment will be fully satisfied. So then I can be reconciled with them. So now, brothers and sisters, How are we then to understand and interpret these difficult verses that our brothers Armenians use with the whole world? Or that Christ is the propitiation not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. I'm going to give you two aspects that I hope that you put in your mind.

The first one is just common sense and it is just from a linguistic point of view. The first one, every time that I say all or everyone or the whole world, I do not necessarily mean and refer to every single element of that population. If I say to you, I've been living in Australia and I love Australians, I don't mean that I love every single Australian because I do not know and I have not met every single Australian. What I mean is that in my experience in Australia with the Australians that I have had interactions, that based on that, I'm just saying that I love Australians. so there is a way from a linguistic point of view that every time that we say all or every we do not necessarily mean every single person it's just a way of speaking but this is not going to convince you i'm just giving you a linguistic evidence the most important one that i want you to have in your mind it is the covenantal aspect salvation.

I'm going to finish with this and I said to you that I was going to give you a little bit of difficult concepts but I really want to push your mind and we're gonna push your faith. So in the world beloved there are only two type of people. It doesn't matter where we come from, it doesn't matter the language that we have, it doesn't matter how much money we have in a bank account, it doesn't matter our background or the things that we do or don't do. In this world there are only two type of people. And these two types of people relate to God in a covenantal relationship.

Remember that I said to you that a covenant is a special relationship between God and men, in which God enters freely and sovereignly, and He requires certain things of people. Because we have been created by God, we are under a covenant of obedience. Everyone is required to obey the commandments of God. God had said, you shall not lie, you shall not steal, you shall honor your parents, you shall not have other gods before me. Everyone is under this covenant of obedience.

Everyone. Everyone is born into that relationship of obedience with God, but then in Jesus Christ we are put into a new covenantal relationship. Jesus Christ comes and fulfills the requirement of obedience under the old covenant and we are inserted into the new covenant that is not of obedience, but is a covenant of grace. We receive the blessings not because we have obeyed, but because Jesus Christ obeyed the other covenant, removed the covenant, established a new one with us that is purely in grace. The old covenant in the Old Testament, it was only for Israel.

So when the apostles were teaching in the primitive church, in the early church, they will use language that it was all covenant language. And for the Jews, the world meant the others. The Jews were the all covenant people, and then the Gentiles will be the world. The Greeks will be the world. So many times when the apostles are speaking about all people or the world, they are speaking that, guys, This salvation that we have is not only for the people of Israel under the Old Covenant.

Guess what? It's also for the Gentiles. It's also for the world. So Christ is not a propitiation for us only, but he's a propitiation for the sins of the world. You have to understand that for the Jew and for the person of Israel, this was great news.

that the gospel and the salvation through God was not only to the people of Israel, but was also for the Greeks and for the Gentiles. This was something that went against their perception of who God was and how he was going to save. For them, salvation was only for the people of Israel. You may remember how Peter was receiving this vision in Acts 10 or 11, where he's receiving this vision of eat of this food. And then he's saying, wow, I'm not going to eat of that because those are Gentile foods and they are not pure.

And God used this vision to teach Peter that the good news of the gospel were not only for the old covenant people, but were also for the Gentiles. So we're not only for the people of the covenant, us, but also for the people of the world. Each one of those verses will have a challenge of interpretation, but beloved, the most important thing for us to understand is that this salvation that we have in Christ, it is fully accomplished upon the cross. Jesus Christ does not buy a potentiality or a potential salvation or the possibility of being saved. He purchases our souls effectively.

He gave His life for us, and effectively, we are saved by His death. So we can rest upon that. It is not about our faith. It is not about our understanding. It is not about our performance.

When He died upon the cross, He said, it is finished, and it was finished indeed. Amen?