The Apostle Paul clearly defines the Gospel in four simple verses.
Yes he does, and we Calvinists affirm it wholeheartedly. I doubt that using this passage helps the non-Calvinist one little bit if they are using it to cavil against Calvinism.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 King James Version (KJV)
15 Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto
you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also
ye have received, and wherein
ye stand;
2 By which also
ye are saved, if
ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless
ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Given Paul's clear and unequivocal address to the
brethren,
the ones believing not in vain, no one should dispute exactly who Our Lord came to save.
No limits can be set on the value or power of the atonement which Christ made, since it depends upon and is measured by the one making it—Christ—and the value of His suffering was infinite. Therefore, the atonement was infinitely meritorious and might have saved every member of the human race had that been God's plan. The atonement was limited only in the sense that it was intended for, and is applied to, particular persons; namely for those who are actually saved.
Universal atonement destroys the atonement's inherent value. When applied to everyone, while we know some will be lost, universal atonement makes salvation
objectively possible for all but it does not
actually save anybody. To non-Calvinists this theory of atonement makes it possible for persons to cooperate with God’s divine grace and therefore save themselves—if they will.
If atonement makes salvation
possible, it applies to all persons. If atonement
effectively secures salvation, it has reference only the elect. The choice between these two views is an atonement of high value or an atonement of wide extension. The non-Calvinist limits the power of the atonement, saying that the atonement itself does not actually save anybody. The Calvinist limits the atonement
quantitatively, but not
qualitatively; the non-Calvinist limits it
qualitatively, but not
quantitatively.
Non-Calvinist related atonement:
If the benefits of the atonement are
universal and unlimited, the atonement must have been
1. a sacrifice to blot out the curse upon mankind through the fall in Adam;
2. a mere substitute for the execution of the law which God in His sovereignty saw fit to accept in lieu of what the sinner was bound to render;
3. not a perfect satisfaction which fulfilled the demands of justice;
4. God no longer demands perfect obedience as He did of Adam;
5. God now offers salvation on lower terms in that
---5a. God removes legal obstacles and accepts the faith and evangelical obedience as a person with a graciously restored ability could render, if he chose, with the Holy Spirit of course aiding in a general way; and
---5b. grace would be extended in that God offers an easier way of salvation—“God accepts fifty cents on the dollar”, since the crippled sinner can pay no more.
If the non-Calvinist doctrine were true it would mean that millions of those for whom Christ died are finally lost, because they refused to believe, and that salvation is thus never applied to many of those for whom it was earned by Christ. As Spurgeon said: "
If Christ has died for you, you can never be lost. God will not punish twice for one thing. If God punished Christ for your sins He will not punish you. ('Payment God's justice cannot twice demand; first, at the bleeding Savior's hand, and then again at mine.') How can God be just if he punished Christ, the substitute, and then man himself afterwards?" In short, the
ransom for many, but not all (Matthew 20:28), is misunderstood and God is unjust to demand an extreme penalty from the substitute (Christ) and then from the persons themselves.
Calvinistic Atonement:
If the benefits of the atonement are
not universal and unlimited, the atonement must have been
1. the law of perfect obedience originally given to Adam was permanent;
2. that God has never done anything which would give the impression that the law was too rigid in its requirements, or too severe in its penalty, or that it stood in need either of abrogation or of derogation;
3. divine justice demands that the sinner shall be punished, either in himself or in his substitute;
4. Christ acted in a strictly substitutionary way for His people, made a full satisfaction for their sins, thereby blotting out the curse from Adam and all persons temporal sins;
5. by Christ’s sinless life He perfectly kept for them the law which Adam had broken, thus earning, from His passive and active obedience, for His people the reward of eternal life;
6. the requirement for salvation now as always has been is perfect obedience;
7. that the
merits of Christ are
imputed to His people as the
only basis of their salvation;
8. that Christ’s people enter heaven clothed only with the cloak of His perfect righteousness and utterly destitute of any merit properly their own;
9. grace, pure grace, is extended not in lowering the requirements for salvation but in the substitution of Christ for His people;
---9a. Christ took their place before the law and did for them what they could not do for themselves;
10. this principle of atonement is such that in every way so designed to impress upon mankind the absolute perfection and unchangeable obligation of the law which was originally given to Adam;
---10a. it is not relaxed or set aside, but is appropriately honored to show its excellence; and
11. in behalf of those who are saved, for whom Christ acted, and in behalf of those who are subjected to everlasting punishment, the law in its majesty is enforced and executed.
AMR
