What specific verse again gives you the certainty of limited atonement.
So Is this accurate...
You believe you are Elect thus an elite member of the whosoever, and that had you not been regenerated, your choice to believe impossible, thus choice is really nonexistent? Is this your interpretation of the word?
So other ppl who read the bible, who don't, or rather can't believe simply because God says, nope you are not my chosen?
You go with that because of mine hear my voice...
I appreciate you giving God all the credit, I do too. But is this also true...
So you do not think our choice is part of His plan? Is it possible to give Him credit for giving us choice?
Why would He punish some of His creation then, when choosing Him isn't an option?
Or is it merely enough to know, He will show compassion on who He chooses?
1. All believers are chosen or elected from the foundation of the earth by God the Father, and given to the Son.
2. These chosen or elect individuals were redeemed by Jesus on the Cross, and their salvation is secured by Him through
the atonement.
3. At some point, the Father draws them to Himself and the gospel is presented to them in some manner.
4. The elect person is regenerated, receiving a new heart that wants to please and love God.
5. Repentance and faith issues from this new heart. The person repents, places their faith in Christ, and confesses Him.
6. This individual is progressively sanctified throughout his life, being conformed to the image of Christ, and is glorified at
Jesus' return.
Regarding those who never accept Christ, they are reprobate. They never desire salvation, and are never drawn to the Father. In the end, they are basically rebels against God, like the demons or Satan.
Regarding whether it is "fair" for such individuals to suffer eternal punishment, yes it is fair. It would also be fair if God never extended salvation to the elect. Grace isn't about fairness; it is unmerited favor. If God chooses not to extend mercy to some, it is not our business to criticize his judgment. Romans 9 addresses this clearly, in the section "who are you, man?". In other words, who is a mere man to take upon himself the prerogative of judging God?
Regarding limited atonement, the position is hat God has only elected a certain number of individuals from the foundation of the world, and Christ's atonement applies to them only. No one else will be saved, so there is no reason to atone for anyone else. And, Christ's blood actually redeems those people. He doesn't theoretically redeem them; he actually redeems them. At the point he died on the Cross, he paid for their salvation in full.
The other view claims that Christ's atonement was for everyone, even people who won't be saved, but it only made salvation possible. In the limited atonement view, the salvation of all who will be saved is actually secured, and is bought and paid for.
Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care fo
r the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life
for the sheep.
Revelation 5:9-10 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood
you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
I have been working on a thread relating to definite atonement (limited atonement) but the essence is this: Jesus only died for the elect that the Father gave to Him.
The more popular view is called universal atonement and it teaches Jesus died for all. There are verses that say Jesus died for "the world" and for "all" but my position is that the apostles were correcting the notion that Jesus only died for Jews rather than Jews and Gentiles.
The universal atonement view proposes that Jesus died for all mankind, but most will never be saved. Additionally, they teach that his atonement didn't secure salvation for anyone, but only made it possible for them. Their salvation is contingent upon belief and, often, perseverance.
The Reformed view is that the atonement only applies to the elect, and their salvation and all things applying to it were secured on the Cross. It is applied by the Holy Spirit when they are regenerated. The main point, though, is that the atonement doesn't just provide a possible salvation, but secures their salvation and entitles them to all the benefits of salvation.
Like I mentioned, I am working on the explanation for another thread, with more detail.
Limited atonement is not very popular. Some churches claim to be "modified Reformed" and this is the most common point they reject. They will claim that Jesus' sacrifice applied in some way to all men, but at the same time they will acknowledge that only the elect will be saved. So, it doesn't really make sense that they would believe in election, and deny limited atonement. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together, and it is unlikely that the Father would elect a certain group, and the Son would atone for the sins of a much larger group (all of mankind), even though they will never be saved because they are not elected.
I personally don't think giving us choice should be something to praise God for. Do you find anywhere in Scripture where God is praised for giving man a free will? If you find a place like that, let me know.
I do believe we have creaturely free will, but it is subject to the fallen nature, therefore it is not truly free. We don't have the libertarian free will that many are claiming that we have. In fact, Scripture teaches that we are slaves to sin before we come to faith.
God frees us at that point, and you could praise God for freeing you from sin and its bondage, but you are freed to be obedient to God. We are to be "slaves to righteousness" but with the new nature, obeying God is a pleasure and not a burden. We have been given a new nature that wants to please and obey God, and that creates joy in us if we really have the mind of Christ.
I am really tired so if I haven't included a lot of Scriptures I apologize. I am still working on the explanation for limited atonement. As it is the most criticized doctrine of grace, I want to make sure it's well-stated.
But, in essence, Reformed theology focuses on the fact that there is an elect people of God who are given to the Son as his possession, and he buys them with his blood. They are his possession and he has secured their salvation. He hasn't just secured a possibility of salvation; he actually saved them on the Cross. At a certain point in their life, the Holy Spirit regenerates them and applies this salvation to them.
This differs from the universal salvation view because they claim Jesus' atonement applied to all men, but it only made salvation possible upon belief and perseverance. As I have been reviewing this doctrine, I am even more confident of this point, and more convinced that the other view is defective.
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