We both agree that it is a universal command to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for forgivness of sin. I see an actual propitation and atonement at the cross; therefore whatever sin was propitated, Christ paid for it. If Christ paid for the sin of unbelief for the entire world, then I believe all mankind would have to be saved. God would be unjust for pouring out His wrath on Christ for the sin of unbelief and pouring out his wrath on unbelievers in Hell for that same sin Christ paid for. I know itâs difficult, but that is what I believe. I still think Reformed writers like John Owen, John Calvin, and Jonthan Edwards see things much greater and clearer than other non-reformed theologians. I will read Lutherâs Bondage of the Will. I should order it and get off the site for the day. Rejoice in the Lord everyone!
Your use of the word âpropitiationâ is not adequate here. The Latin and English words âpropitiationâ stress an appeasement of wrath. The biblical word stress a completeness of payment. âExpiationâ would have been a better choice here than propitiation. The second misleading statement here is that God accepts the payment for all the sins for which it was offered. The payment was offered for all sins, not just some sins.
The line of argumentation you use above, as well as Owenâs is based purely on reason, not on what Scripture says. The heart of the problem here is making riddles and âplaying withâ what Scripture says. If passages seem contradictory to our reason, we cannot remove some of them by riddles and reason. We have to let them all stand.
Besides relying on reason, the other fundamental error of the Calvinists is trying to answer the question, âWhy are some saved and not others?â as if it were one question with one answer. It is two questions, âWhy are some saved?ââit is entirely due to the grace of God and the merit of Christ. âWhy are some lost?â It is entirely due to their sin and unbelief, not to any predestination to damnation, nor to a failure of Christ to pay for their sins, nor to a refusal of the Father to accept that payment for them even though it was sufficient to pay for their debt. God the Father will damn them even though Christ paid enough for their sins and even if they would believe it. Truly a âhorrible decreeâ as Calvin said.
Here are a few of the passages. Note especially the last passages which say that even unbelievers are included in the payment.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 5:18,19 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
2 Corinthians 5:14,15 For Christâs love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinnersâof whom I am the worst.
1 Timothy 2:6 Who gave himself as a ransom for all menâthe testimony given in its proper time.
In some passages âmanyâ is opposed to few or to one (not to all). The âallâ are âmany,â the âmanyâ are all.
Isaiah 53:6,12 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many.
Christâs payment applies to the world not in abstract, but to each one individually.
1 Timothy 4:10: We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Christâs payment covers also those who are lost.
2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought themâbringing swift destruction on themselves.
1 John 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice (KJV propiation) for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
2 Corinthians 5:19,21 That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting menâs sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Interesting, EMT as a paramedic/fire fighter? I evaluate fire departments and fire districts for a living. Jude 3 is contending for the Faith.
Man-centred doctrines always kill faith, because man is not an adequate object of faith, because he is radically defective. Only a Whole Christ, Who is a Whole Salvation, will do.