I think of all the doctrines of grace that people study and look at, I think this is the one that a lot of people tend to struggle with more.
Put this down. I didn't even get to finish the PowerPoint. I'm sorry. I only had like five or six slides anyway. Most of what we're doing is on here.
But quick review, remember that all of these doctrines are connected and interconnected. They don't stand by themselves.
It's hard to, when people make comments like I'm a, I have really good friends that make these comments, but like I'm a two-point Calvinist or I'm a four-point Calvinist or whatever.
It's really, I think it's not actually possible to do that. Like, because they all build on each other. And if you pull one out, they all fall.
So they're all sort of interconnected. And so what we would say is, you know, we started talking about man's radical fallenness.
God's image being shattered and talked about depravity and how that puts man in both like an unworthy position and in a place where he can't do anything to save himself.
Not even cooperate with God in such a way for salvation.
And so last time we talked about election, which was the saving act of the Father, which like, remember, the whole Trinity was involved in our salvation.
And how God chose out of his grace before the foundation of the world to save some, to save his people.
All right. So if we believe in election, we believe in the elect.
And now we want to carry that over to tonight, which is focused on who did Jesus actually die for?
Who did Jesus's blood cover?
And I grew up most of my life hearing that Jesus died for every single individual ever walking the planet.
And it sounded right, you know, right to me.
And I'll hear comments like, you know, Jesus died just as much for Hitler and Stalin as he did for you.
And so I'll hear those kind of comments.
It's never something didn't quite sit well with me when I heard that, but I didn't know what it was.
And so this gets in tonight, the saving act of the son.
And but before we dive into it again, every week, I'm trying to give you like a faithful saint of old that kind of taught and believed these doctrines.
This is John Newton tonight at the top.
He guy wrote Amazing Grace before he knew the Lord.
He was a sailor and a merchant and a slave trader and and a brawler and a drunkard.
And and the Lord saved him.
And then he was involved in like the abolition of the slave trade by actually being William Wilberforce's pastor, which is kind of cool.
All that worked.
And so Newton wrote.
And the views, meaning like doctrines of grace, Calvinism, whatever you want to call it, the views I have received of the doctrines of grace are essential to my peace.
I could not live comfortably a day or an hour without them.
I likewise believe them, those doctrines, to be friendly to holiness and to have a direct influence in producing and maintaining a gospel conversation.
And therefore, I must not be ashamed of them.
Someone commented about Newton that Calvinism was the sugar in his tea, meaning like you could kind of sense it.
You could taste it, but he didn't call it that he didn't say this is Calvinism.
He just sort of talked about it and people.
So all that he talked about was flavored with the doctrines of grace, you could say.
So I thought it'd be helpful to kind of give you an idea of what atonement is.
All right.
Since we're talking about definite atonement or particular atonement, limited atonement.
But it comes from the Hebrew word kafur, which means to cover up one's debt or to make amends for a wrongdoing or crime.
Originally meant to cover up with tar or pitch, but developed in meaning to cover up wrongdoing, to seal it up so that it doesn't have any more bad effects.
All right.
It's seen in a scenario where two parties are seriously at odds or hostile with each other due to a wrongdoing or crime committed between them.
Those two parties remain at odds until someone willingly rushes forward and does something to kafur, like atone, makes amends for the wrong or crime committed and brings reconciliation.
So in this case, we're talking about how we are hostile towards God, that we are enmity with God.
We need somebody to come and, like, make atonement, to cover our debts and make the wrongdoing that we have committed against God right.
And so that's what Christ's life and death accomplished for us, is it gave us atonement.
He shed his blood for us to be reconciled to God.
So this gets into our broader question here.
So in the TULIP acronym, this is where the L is.
We would call it limited atonement.
And we all believe that the atonement is limited in some way.
We either believe that it's limited in its extension or in its power.
So if we believe that if it was meant for every single individual walking the earth, if it was meant for everyone, then it's limited in its power because it's not going to save everyone.
We know that, right?
Because Scripture says that.
And we see it around us.
We've seen lost people perish in front of our eyes.
And so Christ's blood did not atone for that person.
So you have to believe, if you believe it's for all people, every single person walking the planet, old, young, past, present, future, then you have to believe that it's limited in its power.
But we would believe, or I would believe, that it is limited in its extension.
It doesn't go to every single individual walking the planet.
It goes exactly to who it's meant to save, which is the elect, God's people.
And it saved them fully and completely.
So that's where we get the term limited from.
It means that the atonement is limited in its extension.
It doesn't go to every single individual ever to walk the planet.
It goes to God's people, the elect.
So very simple, right?
Man can't save himself.
God, out of his grace, mercifully, chose the people.
Now, those people have to be redeemed, right?
Those elect have to be redeemed.
So Jesus died for the elect.
So that's what we would say, if that makes sense.
It's also called definite atonement, meaning like not a potential atonement, but a definite atonement.
It definitely bought what it was meant to buy.
And or a particular atonement is meant particularly for a group of people.
So that's the different ways that it's sort of framed.
But if you change it, you can't keep tulip together, right?
So that's why we call it limited.
But so just pause.
Any questions on that?
Just from what we just talked about before we start reading some stuff.
We're not going to read, again, as usual, every single scripture in here, but a lot of them will.
Does that make sense about limited in extension or limited in power?
All right.
Okay.
So then the next little point here is that we'll see that Christ actually died to achieve like an actual salvation.
The scripture states, excuse me, states that Christ came not to enable men to save themselves, but to save sinners fully and completely.
Now, what we mean by enable them to save themselves, if you remember the first time we met, we said that the semi-Pelagian view, right?
Erasmus, meaning man is sick and God, you know, Jesus comes to man and says, hey, take my medicine and you'll be better.
That is a cooperation.
You see that, right?
It is a cooperation.
And even if Jesus, you know, did 99.9% of the work, you still contributed 1%, right?
Like you still, therefore, you deserve a little bit of credit no matter how small it is for saving yourself, even though it's a little bit.
It's a meet God halfway type thing, like cooperate, synergistic view of salvation,
which was historically Roman Catholic and Arminian way of thinking.
So we would say that's not the case.
We say that like Christ did not come to enable men to save themselves, but to actually fully save sinners, right?
It speaks in those terms, right?
Look at Matthew 1.
You shall call his, he's talking to Mary, right?
Jesus, or the angel talking to Mary.
You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
And Paul gives you the idea that Christ came into the world to save sinners.
Luke 19, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the law.
So that speaks of like an actual thing that happens.
It's not, I guess, an enablement of men to do so.
So Christ accomplishes the redemptive work that the Father sent him to do.
This is the next point.
As a result of Christ's suffering, his people, the elect, are reconciled to God, justified,
and given the Holy Spirit, who regenerates and sanctifies them.
All the blessings bought by Christ's blood are bought by Christ's blood, excuse me,
and are secured for his people.
So we have all these different verses that talk about what Christ's atonement achieved for us, right?
We have justification, redemption, reconciliation with God.
All these different verses that talk about that.
Let's just pick one.
About Titus 3.
But when the goodness and love and kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us.
So there's that, it happened.
He saved us.
Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
So we just got to understand, like, the Father planned, the Father chose, he planned the whole thing,
and Jesus is the one who is going to accomplish that work.
The Father planned the work, the Son is accomplishing the work.
Sounds like it's in one of the songs that we sing, right?
Praise to the Son who accomplished the work.
So all those blessings that come in redemption, Christ bought for his people, for the elect.
That's the particular work we're talking about.
All right, now here we get into a little bit more specific.
I'll keep stopping periodically, but let's get through this next one before we pause again.
All right.
Jesus fulfills the eternal covenant.
So meaning that all the other covenants that came before Jesus, in many ways, most of them are temporary in nature.
The Mosaic covenant was meant to be fulfilled.
And then now we don't live under the Mosaic law, we live under the law of Christ,
depending on the nature of the covenant.
But there is an eternal covenant that we have with Christ.
It was made, and it's going to be accomplished at the end.
It's not going to fade.
God is going to deliver.
So this says,
So when was this planned?
We kind of talked about that a little bit last time.
This was planned before the foundation of the world.
Not at Genesis 3.
It was planned before the foundation of the world.
And we see that here in all these verses.
Two places, particularly in the Gospel of John.
All right?
But the first one is in the high priestly prayer in John 17.
And we see that Jesus doesn't pray for the world.
He actually says that.
I'm not praying.
But for those given him by the Father.
So in fulfillment of the Father's charge,
Jesus had accomplished the work he was sent to do.
To make God known to his people and to give them eternal life.
And so if you...
I'm just trying to figure out some ways to save time.
Because I know I got here late.
Let's just start in verse 1.
Jesus spoke these things.
This is right before he was arrested in Gethsemane.
And lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said,
Father, the hour has come.
So the hour has come for him to be arrested, beaten, and killed.
Right?
Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.
Even as you gave him authority over all flesh.
And here's the first time it says it.
To all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life.
By the way, this is a New American Standard, so I apologize.
Which we'll be okay with tonight.
It said,
And this is eternal life that they may know you,
the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
I ask on their behalf.
I do not ask on behalf of the world,
but of those whom you have given me,
for they are yours.
Then you finally go down to verse 24.
Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me,
be with me where I am,
so they may see my glory,
in which you have given me,
for you love me before the foundation of the world.
So this idea that the Son existed eternally with the Father
before the world was created.
That's sort of a mind-blowing concept.
And that they had a relationship,
a loving, complete relationship,
just dwelling in eternal glory together.
But three times in this passage,
he mentions those the Father gave him.
And that's very specific.
Right?
And it falls right in line, what we're saying.
It falls in line with God's elect, his people.
And then we get the picture of the good shepherd
in John 10.
It says,
Christ, the good shepherd,
lays down his life for his sheep.
All who are his sheep are brought into the fold
and hear and follow his voice.
Christ has sheep both within and without
the fold of Israel.
Okay?
Yeah.
Again, very specific terms.
He says,
I am the good shepherd,
and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.
Kind of like to set the context for you.
But then you go to verse 14.
I am the good shepherd.
I know my own,
and my own know me.
So who is he talking about?
Even as the Father knows me,
and I know the Father,
I lay down my life for the sheep.
And then he says,
I have other sheep,
which are not of this fold.
I must bring them in also,
and they will hear my voice,
and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
Now, as I mentioned that this morning,
right, like,
I have many people
who are not of this flock,
meaning Israel,
meaning I have people outside this,
Gentiles,
that also need to be brought in
so they will become one flock
with one shepherd.
Right?
Then he says,
verse 25,
so now he's disagreeing with the Jews,
he's fighting against them,
they don't believe that he's the Messiah,
and this is what he says in verse 25.
Jesus answered them,
I told you,
and you do not believe
the works that I do in my Father's name.
These testify of me.
Listen to what he says here,
but you do not believe
because you are not of my sheep.
It's like a very,
he doesn't say,
in that verse,
you're not my sheep
because you don't believe.
You see what he says there?
He very carefully just says,
the reason that you don't
is because you don't belong to me.
Then he contrasts.
He contrasts to support that answer.
He says,
my sheep hear my voice.
I know them,
and they follow me,
and I give eternal life to them,
and they will never perish,
and no one will snatch them
out of my Father's hand.
My Father who has given them to me,
there's that idea of giving them to me,
is greater than all,
and no one is able to snatch them
out of my Father's hand.
So you see the perseverance idea there.
So again,
this is very specific language.
It's not general.
It's not like broad,
blanket terms.
Those that the Father has given him.
The sheep that the Father has given him.
So,
pause.
Any thoughts or questions?
While I get a drink of body armor.
Let's go.
Yep, yep.
Sure, I've heard that before too.
I do, but I don't die first.
I'm good.
Yes, I've heard that before too.
So when you use the term redeem, when you use the term ransom,
there's an image of it in Roman culture.
So if Rome lost a battle, they would have, or if they won a battle, they would get prisoners.
They would collect prisoners from the opposite army, usually like their commanders, their generals, whoever it was,
and some of their higher ranking soldiers.
And then they would contact the losing, you know, government and say,
hey, you want these people back?
You've got to buy them, you know.
And they would send a ransom.
They would send money, an exact payment for each person.
And they only would get back who they paid for.
But if you want to tie it over to the Roman side of Rome lost soldiers who were captured,
a Roman citizen could pay to ransom that particular legionary.
And that legionary would come back.
And that legionary would pretty much work for that person until all the debt was paid off.
So there our analogy ends because we can never repay Christ for what he's done.
It's like an internal debt that we will never be able to repay.
But the point is, like, an actual transfer happened.
There was an actual payment for an actual thing.
And so when we connect this to the blood of Christ,
the blood of Christ is like the currency here, right?
It's what paid for our salvation.
It's what ransomed us.
We are ransomed by the blood of Christ.
We are bought with the precious blood of Christ.
And so you are right, Chad.
That means then that some of that blood was just wasted.
It's not going to obtain exactly what it was meant to obtain.
So that's, you know, a little crazy.
I think, imagine you're a loved one suffering the kind of death that Jesus suffered,
just knowing that some of that would be wasted.
Like, no.
Like, what does it say?
Like, that the Lord will receive the reward of his suffering.
I'm blanking out on the verse.
But he will receive the reward of his suffering.
He'll get exactly what his blood purchased.
And so, yeah, the blood of Christ is not going to be wasted.
It'll buy exactly who it was meant to buy.
But if it was sufficient enough to save all,
then it would just save all.
Be a universalist idea.
Yeah.
Yep.
So, but it was always presented to me in a man-centered way.
Does that make sense?
It was like, what we're talking about, though, is like the blood of Jesus.
What we're talking about is the redemptive plan of God,
not how many, how few.
We have to look at it that way.
Like, what was meant by the actual atonement?
So, all right.
Next point.
All blessings in Christ.
So, Paul declares that all the spiritual blessings which the saints inherit,
such as redemption, sonship, forgiveness of sins, etc.,
result from being in Christ.
And he traces the blessings back to their ultimate source in the eternal counsel of God.
Okay.
So, it all comes together in Jesus.
All these blessings that we have in salvation.
And, yeah, Ephesians 1 here.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ.
So, like, circle the in Christ here.
I think he says it one, two, maybe three times in this passage.
Yep.
Three times.
The idea of being in Christ.
With every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, even as he chose us in him.
I'd like to be another way of saying it.
Maybe four times then.
In Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.
But I hope you see, like, what's going on here.
Like, the spiritual blessings, all that the saints actually inherit, come through Jesus.
And that was planned, again, before the foundation of the world with the eternal counsel of God.
So, yeah.
So, this gets into what a lot of y'all are probably wanting to talk about.
I will admit that I'm not up to par right now.
So, you can tell I'm already, like, slurring my speech a little bit and things like that.
But, how, this is going to explain, we're going to talk about now,
how Christ died for all, but yet a particular people.
So, some passages speak of, huh, I forgot the T there, Chris.
That's great.
I told you I was just not with it today.
I was like, Cara, stop beating up your sister.
I was kind of, like, going on.
Just add a T to that.
Make it proper.
Some passages speak of Christ dying for all men,
and his saving death as saving the world.
Yet, others speak of his dying being definite in design,
and of his dying for a particular people,
and securing them for salvation.
All right, so, this deals with all the verses that talk about the world,
all men,
and how we ought to be able to, like, look at those things.
So, here are some of those examples.
Here you go.
John 1, 29, where John the Baptist said,
Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Then our famous John 3, 16,
God so loved the world that he gave...
Let's see.
Verse 4 is like the verse that kind of stands out.
It says,
Who desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth?
Which I'll just talk about that just in a second.
So, a basic hermeneutic that we need to follow is...
If you remember, if you go back to what I gave you last week,
I gave you George Mueller's talk.
He said that the passages that spoke for this were like so many,
and like the ones that seemed to contradict,
put in light of those many made sense.
That's kind of what we're trying to do here.
And so,
this isn't going to be a surprise to you,
but sometimes words actually have more than one meaning sometimes,
depending on the context.
I think the term God's will
has at least eight different meanings in the Scripture,
depending on the context.
One may speak of his eternal,
decreed will.
One may talk about his desires,
like what God desires.
And so,
here's one reason.
I'm going to give you two reasons why
these expressions are used.
But one reason for use of the expression,
the world, all men,
was to correct the false notion
that salvation was for the Jews alone.
So, New Testament writers
use such phrases to show
that Christ died for all men.
Here's our point.
Christ died for all men
without distinction.
For the Jews and Gentiles alike.
Not for all men without exception.
You see the difference there?
The purpose of saving each and every sinner.
So, what we would say is that
Christ died for all men
without distinction,
but not all men without exception.
All right?
So, God desires to have worship and praise
from every tribe, nation, and tongue.
The idea that Jews truly believe
that they were the only people
to have a standing with God
cannot be overemphasized.
So, they really thought
that they were God's people alone,
like no one else.
And so, the New Testament writers
are very intentional to say things like,
yeah, the whole world,
all nations,
all people,
all men.
And that was to kind of say that,
well, actually God's grace
extends outside the nation
of Israel.
And so,
when we're talking about the world, though,
and all men,
we are speaking in general terms,
not specific terms.
That's like what we need to see
when we look at phrases like that.
It says that,
a great verse to give you an example.
Oh, man.
Just the beginning of the Gospel of Luke.
It says that,
a census went out
from Caesar Augustus
to the whole world.
Did it?
Did the Chinese
or, you know,
people living in North America
at that time,
were they a part of that census?
No.
Clearly not.
They're talking about the Roman world
is what he's referring to there.
So,
that's what we're trying to say here.
So, it's not saying
that
Christ died
for every single person
in the world
or every single man
or woman in the world,
but
all people without distinction,
not all people without exception.
General terms,
specific terms.
So, I know that
we should look at 1 Timothy.
That was one that I
saw
for at least a good
year or so
is feeling like
it was just contradictory.
But,
very simply put,
if you rewind
to verse 1,
Paul says,
first of all,
then,
I urge you
the supplication,
prayers,
intercessions,
and thanksgiving
be made for all people.
So, underline all people.
Right?
For kings
and for all
in high positions
that they may lead
a peaceful
and quiet life,
godly and dignified
in every way.
This is good
and pleasing
in the sight of God
our Savior
who desires
all people
to be saved
and come to
the knowledge
of the truth.
So, I'm going to
like turn it over
on you.
Who is
the all people here?
What do you think?
See in verse 1,
maybe?
Hint, hint.
All types of people.
Yep.
From kings
to slaves
to different types
of people
is who he's referring to.
That we should
make prayers,
intercessions,
and thanksgiving
for all of them.
For even kings
in high positions
that pray they
would rule well,
etc.
And this is why.
Because God desires
for all types of people.
All men.
But he gives you
an example
of what that is.
So,
and again,
if God's will
is final,
then if he desires
all people
to be saved,
guess what?
All people
will be saved.
It's not a,
his will is not
going to sort of
be thwarted
by anything
at that point.
So,
that's how we
would read that
as speaking
to all types
of people.
God desires
all types
of people
to be saved.
So,
that's a general
term
and not a specific
term.
If it was specific,
it would be like,
yeah,
every single person
walking the planet.
Past,
present,
future.
Then,
next,
or,
bring it in
for a landing here
and we'll have
some other
things to look at.
there are many
other passages
that speak
of Christ's
saving work
in definite
terms.
So,
both of these
are true.
General terms,
like the ones
we just read,
and then
specific terms.
Definite terms
show that
it was intended
to infallibly
save a particular
people,
namely,
the elect,
his bride,
the church,
those whom
the Father
has given him,
etc.
The scripture
continually
testifies
that the Messiah
would come
and definitely
save his people,
not to possibly
save everyone.
Right?
Here you go.
Matthew 26 there.
And when Jesus
had taken the cup
and given thanks,
he gave it to them
and said,
Drink from it,
all of you,
for this is my blood,
the blood of the covenant,
which is poured out
for many
for the forgiveness
of sins.
All right?
Acts 20,
28.
This one is,
kind of hits
what Chad just said.
Paul's warning
the pastors,
challenging the pastors
at Ephesus,
the elders there.
He says,
Be on guard
for yourselves
and for your flock,
among which
the Holy Spirit
has made you overseers
to shepherd the church
of God,
which he purchased
with his own blood.
See that?
Like it was
an actual purchase
that happened
and that currency
was the blood
of Jesus.
So he purchased
the church.
And of course,
Ephesians 5,
which is secondly
about marriage,
but primarily
about Christ's
relationship
with the church.
But very clearly,
Jesus died
for his bride,
not a potential bride.
He died for the bride.
Right?
Gave himself up
for her.
Then Hebrews 9, 15.
Therefore,
he is the mediator
of a new covenant
so that those
who are called
may receive
the promised
eternal inheritance.
since the death
has occurred
that redeems them
from the transgressions
committed under
the first covenant.
All right?
So,
any other questions?
Thoughts?
Get my Bible up
for this.
Do lost.
All that's important with you about that procession and that analogy in regards to the way that we're going to bring down our attention.
But that's a huge amount of time.
Yeah.
But in freedom here, you're going to display it and replace it.
Yeah.
It points back to the reality of Christ.
Mm-hmm.
And that's very specific.
Yeah, it is.
And the thinking of it is very specific.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, all this goes to this idea of a lot of the time when the term slave is used in the New Testament,
and it's used as doulos.
It's talking about like this bond servant, someone who is tied to somebody for life.
And in one way, that's freeing if you have the perfect master, right?
And so it mirrors our relationship with God, which Paul picks up on that.
We are now slaves of Christ, like doulos.
There's a picture there.
And it just goes along with like once Christ buys us, like we are his, and we want to be his.
There's a heart change that's there.
So I thought it might be worth it if you want to take your Bible.
I don't have this on the paper.
But turn over to 1 Peter chapter 3.
So, yeah, but I mean, any other thoughts, any other questions before we just sort of look at this?
Yes.
I have a question.
I understand that there is a question in the first thing you want to write.
I think like in English we have some limitations with a couple of these verses like innovation five.
So that's the thing that I think is better.
I think there is a couple of different conversations.
Yeah.
How would you, like for somebody who would want to argue that there is a level of push?
Is there any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those any of those
Yeah.
Look it up for fun.
The Greek word.
Looking at the Hebrew word, we'll never find it.
No, I mean, I think if you wanted to probably replace it,
I'm going to confirm that.
But for the purpose of so that he would is what I think I would probably say there.
So here we go.
So that he would idea, not just that he potentially could.
It actually means, I mean, just the phrase.
So it's a phrase and not a word.
It's not just the Greek equivalent of might.
It's like that he might.
It means like to separate from profane things and dedicate to God.
It means to purify, to consecrate things to God.
So you're basically saying like he died for her for the purpose of consecrating her,
for the purpose of purifying her.
Yeah.
Sometimes.
Yeah.
I'm thankful.
I mean, actually, as, you know, Tyndale found out, like the English language is a very rich language
and does pretty well at translating a lot of things.
But there are all those moments where that might not have been the best word for that.
But, yeah, it's not, it's a verb, right, to cleanse, to cleanse somebody.
So, yep.
So, so basically, yeah, we're saying that Christ died for his bride so that he might set her apart for himself.
Right.
The goal.
In order to, so that.
Anything else?
Are we seeing how this all sort of connects?
Like there's the elect and the father chose and the son then dies for those people.
This is one, if you want to look at, still not there yet.
Second Peter chapter three.
Okay, I'm just, my pages are sticking.
This is one that I also struggle with.
So, really, it was like, I think I, when I was working through this, I was, I felt like I had to let go of those sort of texts that said,
the world, all men, because that made sense.
Like, okay, yeah, he's speaking in general terms.
Deal.
I get it.
And then there was the first Timothy passage that we read.
I failed to mention that later on in first Timothy, that same place we read where he desires all men to be saved.
He actually says that he endures all things for the sake of the elect, like not long after that.
So, he kind of defines who that is.
But, yeah, so, we get to first Peter three.
And the controversial verse, one that I was looking at before.
I don't say this is a hard one, but I think it does make sense once we kind of like apply what we're hearing, what we know, and put it here.
But it says in verse 9,
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but for all.
But, excuse me, I'm thinking in the New American Standard again.
But that all should reach repentance.
All right, so, that verse seems to jump out and be like, wait a minute.
It says here clearly that God doesn't want anybody to perish.
He's not willing that anybody should perish.
He wants all to come to repentance.
And I think my problem, when I was introduced to this verse throughout a lot of my life, it was just sort of thrown out there.
God's not willing to perish, not for coming to repentance.
And I'm like, yep, yep.
I actually never studied 2 Peter, never studied chapter 1, 2, or 3.
And so, if we know what 2 Peter is about, and it's about him saying that false teachers, false prophets are coming,
like the entire part of chapter 2 is about that.
So, yeah, and actually, if you go to 2 Peter chapter 1, real quick, flip over there.
He mentions in verse 10,
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election,
for if you practice these qualities, you will never fail.
So, he's already mentioned this idea that there's an elect people in this verse.
So, then he's warning, like, look, the false teachers are coming.
It's like, they're coming.
They're going to be there.
They're going to try to corrupt the gospel.
Some intentionally, some unintentionally.
Some just being careless.
But he basically says that they will face condemnation one day,
and that, you know, persecution is sort of coming,
which he wrote about in this first letter, right?
So, if you get to chapter 3, in light of that big shadow,
there's going to be a lot of ungodliness and false teachers.
Then, he gets into the second part, and he's talking about how,
don't worry, like, the Lord will return.
The day of the Lord is coming.
It will come.
And he actually says that.
And now, in the second letter that I'm writing to you,
so there's 1 Peter, 2 Peter,
I wish to stir up as a way of reminder
that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets
and commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,
knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come
in the last days with scoffing,
following their own sinful desires.
They will say, where is the promise of his coming?
For ever since the fathers fell asleep,
all these things are continuing,
as they were from the beginning of creation.
For they deliberately overlooked this fact,
that the heavens existed long ago,
and the earth was formed out of the water,
through water, by the word of God.
And that, by means of these,
the world then existed,
was deluged with water and perished.
He's talking about the flood.
So, basically, let me paraphrase that.
He's saying that these scoffers are going to come back.
Oh, yeah, well, where's God?
Like, you say he's going to come back.
Like, ha, ha, no, he's not.
It's like continued on like this since the beginning of the world.
Nothing's changed.
It's going to keep going the way it is.
And he's reminding them,
oh, that's what they said to Noah
when he was building the ark.
And then, guess what?
God's judgment came.
So, like, they mocked Noah.
They scoffed at him.
And then God's judgment came in the form of the flood.
So, he's saying, like, yeah,
they did that back then, too.
Don't worry.
Like, God will come.
Jesus will return.
Don't be discouraged.
All right?
But they're saying, like,
why hasn't he come back yet?
Right?
Why has he not come back for us?
And then you look at verse 7.
But by that same word,
the heavens and the earth that now exist
are stored up for fire being kept
until the day of judgment
and destruction of the ungodly.
Meaning that that's going to come.
All right?
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved.
That with the Lord,
one day is a thousand years.
And a thousand years is one day.
So, meaning, like,
I know that it feels like it's going to,
it's taking forever.
Like, in your world,
in your mind,
it seems like God is taking forever
for these things to come to pass.
But it's not to God.
Like, it's not to his plan.
Like, he's right on time.
So, it comes across to us as slowness.
Right?
Like, God is being slow to fulfill his promise.
Right?
Then it says in verse 9,
it says that the Lord is not slow
to fulfill his promise,
as some count slowness,
but is patient towards you,
not willing that any should perish,
but for all to come to repentance.
Okay?
So, the key word here is any.
So, does any mean all?
We have to figure out what the,
is it the suffix?
Nope.
I think about the right grammatical word here.
What does any connect to?
Antecedent?
Is that right?
Any Greek people,
or grammar people here?
No.
Yeah.
So, basically,
we're trying to find out
who does any refer to?
Alright?
Now, if you are
a semi-Pelagian,
or Arminian,
you are saying
that any means all people.
Like, you're saying
that, like, God is waiting
because he doesn't want
anyone to perish.
Right?
That's odd
because this whole chapter
is about people perishing.
You see that?
The whole passage
is about God
judging the ungodly.
So, he's not waiting
for those people.
So, who is he waiting for?
What does it say
in the same verse?
Look at the other pronouns
used there.
Any is connected to you.
Us.
Right?
Okay?
So, who's the us?
The people that Peter's writing to.
He's writing to the church,
the believers.
And, in short,
what we would say
is God is not willing
that any of his elect
should perish,
but for all of them
to reach repentance.
And that is why
God is tarrying.
He is waiting
to bring in the full number
of God's people
scattered abroad,
which we just read about
in John.
To bring in that full number.
Because he cannot be waiting
for every single individual
because we know
that not every single individual
is going to be saved.
He's long-suffering
towards you.
Another translation says
long-suffering
towards us.
Right?
I think that's
New American Standard
might say that.
The Lord is not slow
to fulfill his promise.
He is patient
towards you.
He is long-suffering
towards us.
Is there another way
to say that?
And the us
is the saved people,
the people of God.
He waits for them
to be saved.
So that is his patience,
is his forbearing.
So the any here
refers to the us
or the you
if you have
the New English Standard Version.
That's what I would say
this,
I think this means
just on its face,
you know,
just by looking at
the context.
That the you,
the us
refers to the any.
That's who it tells us
the any is.
But then he goes back
and kind of gets back
to the judgment.
The day of the Lord
will come like a thief.
Then the heavens
will pass away
with a roar
and the heavenly bodies
will be turned up
and dissolved
and the earth
and all its works
that are done on
will be exposed.
So,
that's what we would say
that means.
You can disagree,
it's okay,
but I think
just on his face
that's who we're
talking about.
And if you put
that in light
of all the other
passages that we're
talking about,
it makes sense
to me.
Anything?
Questions?
Yeah.
Well,
I mean,
again,
the question to ask him
is,
well,
is the whole world going to be atoned for then?
So if Christ actually propitiated the sins of the whole world,
if he means the world in the sense that he's trying to say,
that means that Christ made an actual atonement for everyone.
That leads to universalism.
And as we're saying, again, just going back to what John said in his gospel, right,
that the world just means all types of people, all Jews and Gentiles.
It means, you know, it doesn't just mean Israel.
And John was very specific to say that,
because look at all the different fights that Jesus got into with the Jews
about who is God's people.
You know, we are the children of Abraham.
You know, those sort of arguments that he got into.
So it was very intentional to say a general term like the world,
meaning all types of people, all nations, all languages,
but not that the world itself is not a specific term.
It's a general term.
That's what I would say.
Because, again, the flip of that is, like, everyone's sin has been propitiated.
Or, going back to what Chad said, like, or it didn't save everybody.
Like, a lot of it was sort of wasted, right?
You ever paid a lot of money for something that was important
and then, like, didn't really get the product that you paid for?
Sort of like a, God doesn't do that.
Like, God's not wasteful like that with the blood of his son.
If you want to tie that into his omniscience,
he wouldn't allow that to happen anyway.
So, yeah, that's what I would say.
Does that make sense?
Yeah.
Purgatory.
Yeah.
I mean, for those of you who don't know me, well, it was a joke.
Sorry.
I shouldn't joke about that.
But it just makes a lot of sense when you look at the language surrounding ransom, redeemed, atoned,
that it was a specific thing that happened.
It got exactly what it was meant to get.
And that the blood of Jesus was not spilt needlessly for a potential people, but an actual people.
And it ties right into God's election.
It ties into the idea that man can't save himself or even kind of add anything to God's salvation.
So, all sort of connects.
To which, next week, we'll talk about, like, the Spirit's role in salvation.
So, he takes the elect and those that Jesus accomplished the work for.
And the Spirit applies that work, applies the work of Jesus to the individual.
So, Jesus accomplishes it.
The Spirit takes it and applies it to those people.
Regenerates them.
Gives them a new heart.
Makes them a new creation.
That idea.
So, yeah.
Any other questions or thoughts?
You know, I'm hard to hear this.
I'm leaning in this way.
I'm looking at you.
I guess, like, what is the benefit in, like, trying to fully define this phenomenon?
Instead of saying that, like, the offer of salvation is sent to everyone, but not everyone to the faith.
And you destroy it.
Practical.
Okay.
Yep.
But, I would say that, like, knowing, for the believer to know that Jesus built his blood for them is of immense importance.
It makes you aware.
It humbles you.
Like, the same way that election does.
Like, why me?
Like, why did the blood of Jesus apply to me?
Like, I am unworthy.
I have nothing to bring, nothing to offer.
Like, why would Christ shed his blood for me?
So, it's very, it's a very, like, personal thing.
Like, all this stuff is not just cool theological language.
I mean, it's saying that, like, Christ died for his bride.
We all love a good love story.
Christ died for his bride.
You know?
He died for us.
Like, his people.
And for us to kind of let that fall in our hearts and not move us is a grace problem.
Like, we have to, Christ died to purchase us with his own blood.
And that should mean something to all of us.
Like, it humbles us.
Again, it's the why me explanation.
And we can be assured, too.
Like, because guess what?
Christ's blood will save us fully.
Like, it's a part of our assurance.
Like, if he actually paid for our sin, if he actually died and brought a right atonement for our sin, then we will be with him one day.
Like, our sin is done, covered with.
So, to understand that the atonement was an actual thing to happen, not a potential one, gives us assurance.
Like, good.
It gives us peace that we are going to, in fact, be saved one day fully and completely.
So, that's why it's important to me.
It means that it just should create gratitude and joy for what Christ has done.
But again, it leaves us sort of saying, like, I didn't contribute anything to this.
Why me?
Like, I don't know.
I stink.
I'm awful.
Like, why would Christ die for a wretched person like me?
I don't get it.
And that's the point, though, isn't it?
Grace, right?
So, that's why I would say that it is important.
And because we're seeing it everywhere in the Scripture, and, like, God's not uttering nonsense.
Like, he wants us to see that for a reason.
He's honing out this idea that our sins have been atoned for as his people.
So, that stirs the affections of his people, his bride.
So, that's what I would say, I guess.
Yes.
Yep.
Anything else?
I apologize for being late again.
Sorry for no cool pictures and diagrams.
But, I will pray for us, and I'll hang out.
Again, we have some extra copies here.
If you know somebody who wasn't here, and you're going to see them later, just grab one for them.
But, let's pray together.