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Jesus Christ, our mediator, did
to reconcile his people to God. And two weeks ago, with question
57, we were introduced to kind of a new subject, and that was
to the benefits that all that work that he did in his humiliation
and exaltation and his as prophet, priest, and king,
all that work that he did, we see the benefits that come from
that work. And that's what we're getting into now, looking at
those benefits, how they're applied to us, that sort of thing. And
we saw that through his work, everything changes for us. By
him, we are redeemed out of sin, out of ignorance, out of guilt,
out of hell, out of death. out of sickness, out of sorrow,
out of bondage to Satan, out of God's curse. You see, redemption
covers it all, and we're brought into the household of God to
serve Him in righteousness and holiness forever and ever. So
it's a huge, huge change that redemption brings, an all-encompassing
change and a wonderful change. So we saw that, and then last
week we looked at how Christ's benefits are applied to His people. Like, how does He connect us
up with those benefits? And we looked particularly at
Titus 3, and saw that they're applied to us by the Holy Spirit,
who takes us, dead in trespasses and sins as we are naturally
by birth, no different than anyone else. The elect are no different
except that they've been chosen. And He radically changes us,
even giving us spiritual life so that we truly come alive to
God and turn to Christ for salvation. It is such a radical change.
We saw that it's called the washing of regeneration and the renewing
of the Holy Spirit. Without this change, we would
never come to Christ. The bottom line then is the only
reason that you came to Christ, if you have come to Christ, and
the person next to you didn't, what makes you to differ is because
of the Holy Spirit's work. Now with question 59, we're asked
who it is that the Lord does this for. To whom does he apply
the benefits of redemption? Who are made partakers of his
redeeming grace? And the answer that I've already
read to you, redemption is certainly applied and effectually communicated
to whom? To all those for whom Christ
hath purchased it. Not any more than that, not any
less than that, to all of them who are in time by the Holy Ghost
and able to believe in Christ according to the gospel. So there's
the part. The last part of that answer is what we looked at last
week. The Holy Spirit enables us to be able to come and believe
in time and history. But what we're focusing on tonight
is that it's effectually applied and communicated or certainly
applied and effectually communicated to all for whom Christ purchased
it. Make no mistake about what this
is saying. It's saying that every person for whom Christ died,
every person for whom he purchased redemption, becomes a partaker
of redemption. The teaching of Scripture is
not, as is commonly asserted, that Christ died for every single
individual, and only those who believe receive the benefit.
The teaching of Scripture is rather that Christ, in His redemptive
work, actually purchases salvation, so that if He has redeemed a
person, then that person cannot be lost. Now, the members of
the Trinity are not divided so that you have Christ dying for
everyone, every single person, and then the Spirit coming along
and only applying that redemption to certain individuals to the
elect. No, the Father elects those who
are to be saved from before the foundation of the world. He elected
those who would be saved from before the foundation of the
world. then Christ came 2,000 years ago, died for those that
the Father had elected, then the Spirit comes throughout history
and applies that redemption to each of those individual persons
for whom Christ died. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
are unified and their purpose and their work of salvation.
All three persons are necessary for our salvation. Without the
work of any one of them, we could not be saved. So the triune God
is the one who brings salvation full and complete to us in all
of its parts. Now, this is the teaching of
our Lord Jesus in John 6, 33 through 40, which is the text
that I have selected for our scripture reading tonight. And
I'm going to be using a lot of different passages. for this
topic, but we'll read that and I'll say a few words about it
and then we'll look at the topic in general. So John 6.33, Jesus is here speaking. He has
fed the 5,000. The people are trying to make
Him king on the wrong basis. They want somebody that's going
to overthrow the Romans and all that sort of thing. They're not
looking for someone that's going to die on the cross for their
sins. Even the disciples didn't really understand that at this
time, but Jesus is speaking to them and trying to communicate
this to them in their ignorance at this time. And in verse 33
of chapter 6, he says of himself, for the bread of God is he who
comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Then they
said to him, Lord, give us this bread always. And Jesus said
to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never
hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I
said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Verse
37, all that the father gives me will come to me and the one
who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. For I have come
down from heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him
who sent Me. This is the will of the Father
who sent Me, that of all He has given Me, I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will
of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes
in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the
last day." Now, you see in this passage,
as well in the reading of God's word there, you see in this passage
in verse 33 that Jesus describes himself as the bread of God that
comes down from heaven to give life to the world. and He actually
does do this. He gives life to the world. It's not just that He makes it
available, but He actually gives life. He says that everyone who
believes in Him receives this life. Yet He tells those to whom
He is speaking that they have not been connected to Him for
life because they have not believed. Then He says that everyone whom
the Father has chosen will come to him to receive life from him. They will be connected to him
by the Holy Spirit, by the new birth. In verse 44, he explains
that no one will do this unless the Father draws them. I didn't
read verse 44, but he says, no one can come to me unless the
Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the
last day. He further says that these are the ones who are taught
of God. He quotes that verse. God the Spirit opens their eyes
and opens their heart to believe and then they come. They cannot
come until God's Spirit does that. Not because it wasn't something
that was already in them. They weren't predisposed to come
to Him. They were predisposed not to come to Him. But God's
spirit gives them life and then they come. And in verse 38 through
40, Jesus makes it clear that every single one that the father
has chosen will come to him. His will is one with that of
the father. It is not as though there are
a group of persons that Jesus is trying to save and another
group that the father is committed to save. It's rather that there
are those that the father is appointed to salvation. These
are the ones that Christ redeemed. And those are the ones that are
joined to him by faith. But we live in a day when there's
a lot of confusion about this topic. Many people stumble when
they read passages that speak about Jesus dying for the world,
or about Jesus dying for the whole world, or Jesus dying for
the church. And they suppose that this means
that he died to save every single person. And so this afternoon,
I want to show you what the scripture actually says about those for
whom Christ died. First, we're going to see that
Christ died for the whole world. Secondly, we're going to see
that Christ died for the church, his covenant people in the Old
Testament and the New Testament. And third, we're going to see
that Christ died for the elect. All of those statements are true.
He died for the world. He died for the church, and he
died for the elect. But we need to see in what way
they're true. First of all, Christ died for the world. The whole
world, of course, was lost in sin because of the fall. We looked
at this before when we studied about the fall. We saw that just
as through one man sin entered the world, and death through
sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned. So
the sin of Adam spread into the whole human race. In Romans 3,
we're told that all the world is guilty before God. All the
world has broken God's law. They're guilty. They're condemned.
We're told in Romans 6 that the wages of sin is death. So the
world was condemned to perish under God's wrath and judgment.
That is the condition of the entire world as a whole. The world is condemned. The Bible
tells us that Jesus came to save the world. John 3 16 Says for
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son That
whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting
life Verse 17 for God did not send his son into the world to
condemn the world But that the world through him might be saved
so when the woman at Samaria the woman at the well referred
to Jesus as the Savior of the world and Then she was speaking
accurately. He is the savior of the world.
John the Baptist speaks of him as that great sacrifice that
came to do what? To take away the sin of the world.
When he sees Jesus, he says, saw Jesus coming toward him in
John 1 29. And he said, behold, the lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world. His language is unmistakingly
that of a sacrificial offering. It connects with all of those
Old Testament sacrifices. John is not just speaking some
weird language out of time, but he's speaking of what was historically
represented in all those Old Testament sacrifices, where an
offering was made to atone for the sins of the persons for whom
it was offered, and their sin was atoned. And he says that
the sin of the world is going to be atoned by Christ. Observe
that he says that he actually takes away the sin of the world. In other words, by his offering,
Jesus makes satisfaction to God for the sin of the world. He
expiates it or removes it. Jesus himself, as we saw in John
6.33, said that he comes to give life. to the world. The bread of God
is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
He does not say that he offers life to the world there, but
he comes to give life to the world. He brings life where there
is death. Now, this is exactly what was
promised to Abraham when it was said that Abraham in the days
to come would be the heir of the world, that he would inherit
the world. Romans 4.13. For the promise that he would
be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through
the law, but through the righteousness of faith. It was not through
what they would do. It was through what God would
do, that they would trust him by faith. The promise was made
to Abraham and to his seed in Christ, to whom he promised that
the nations would be his inheritance. Abraham's and in Christ, particularly
spoken of, spoken to through Abraham. In Psalm 2, 7 and 8,
we read, I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me. This
is the son of God speaking. You, I mean, this is God speaking.
You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask
of me and I will give you the nations your inheritance and
the ends of the earth for your possession Christ then is promised
the world there Isaiah 49 5 through 6 and now the Lord says who formed
me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him so
that Israel is gathered to him for I shall be glorious in the
eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength Indeed, he says,
it is. This is what God says to the
son. It is too small a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob, OK, to save only the tribes of
Israel and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give
you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation
to the ends of the earth. Christ has promised again that
he would save to the ends of the earth. And then Daniel 7.13,
I was watching the night vision, says Daniel, and behold, one
like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came
to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Then to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all
peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion
is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. Those were very
remarkable prophecies. in the day that they were given,
because what was the situation when those prophecies were given?
Were the nations coming to worship Jehovah in Jerusalem? No. There were many kings that wanted
to have wide dominion, but they recognized they worshipped gods.
All the different gods from the different nations were brought
together whenever they conquered them. No one really looked for
a universal religion. They simply added the gods of
the nations they conquered to the list of the gods that they
worshipped. The more the better. Yet here
you have, in the Old Testament, the promise that the one true
God is going to gather the world, that he's going to save the world.
Now the question must be asked, does Jesus accomplish this task
that he set out to do? Does he actually save the whole
world and give life to the whole world? Does he actually obtain
this everlasting dominion as savior of all nations? The answer
is yes. A very remarkable thing happened
after Christ was raised from the dead. His tiny band of followers
were instructed to carry the gospel to the whole world. What
was the gospel? Gospel was the good news that
the offering of Jesus Christ had been accepted for the sins
of the world by God the Father. This news was carried to the
world. And amazingly, the world began
to believe. So that Paul was able to say
to the Colossians In Colossians 1.5, that the word of the truth
of the gospel, which has come to you, he's speaking to the
Colossians, as it has also in all the world and is bringing
forth fruit as it is also among you since the day you heard and
knew the grace of God in truth. So he says it's in all the world. The gospel was bearing fruit
in all the world. Now to the Corinthians, He could
also say that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,
not imputing their trespasses to them. Observe, it's the world
that's being reconciled, the world that's being saved. Now,
how is God able to do this? Well, through Christ. He made
satisfaction for their sins through the offering of Christ, through
the sacrifice of the Lamb of God that took away the sins of
the world. And that's why John is able to
say in his epistle of Christ that 1 John 2, 1 and 2, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous,
and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not ours only,
but also for the whole world. John is saying, Jesus is the
propitiation not only for our sins, whose? John and the other
apostles, the Jews and the apostles that were with him. But he's
saying he's also the propitiation for the sins of the whole world.
Now, a propitiation is that which turns away wrath. That's what
a propitiation does. If someone is propitiated, their
wrath is turned away, their anger is appeased. This is saying that
Jesus actually turns away God's wrath from the whole world. by
paying the penalty of our sins in His once offering of Himself
on the cross. He is the one who turns God's
wrath from the world. And when God is thus propitiated,
there is no more wrath. There is satisfaction. Jesus
is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There
is no more remembrance of sin. Therefore, there's sin and iniquity.
I will remember no more, says the Lord. Now I know that someone
will say, wait just a minute. The whole world is not saved. There are people who are still
lost in their sin. Jesus even told his disciples
that the world would hate them. And in his great prayer in John
17, he said of his disciples, they are not of the world, just
as I am not of the world. And John said in 1 John 5, 19,
we know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the
sway of the wicked one. What's more, the Bible tells
us repeatedly that there are many who will perish. In Revelation
20, 14, we're told that death and Hades were cast into the
lake of fire. This is the second death and
anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire. But the question I have for you
is whoever said that every individual would be saved? Bible says that
the world would be saved. It doesn't say that every individual
would be saved. That's not the same thing. Take
the classic superhero story. The arch-villain plans to destroy
the whole world. He's going to destroy the world.
So he begins his work and he destroys several cities. And
then the superhero comes along and he saves the world. But did he save the world? What
about the cities that were destroyed? Well, he didn't say he saved
everyone. said he saved the world. True, he did not save those cities,
but it's still normal to say, normal way of speaking to say
he saved the world. The world would have been destroyed
by this villain, but instead the world was saved. Even if
only a few cities were saved, the world was saved rather than
destroyed. Even if the end result had been
that there was only one family, as it was in the day of Noah.
The world was saved in that day. The world perished in one sense,
but in another sense, God preserved the world through Noah so that
the world went on. You see, the world would have
entirely perished in sin, but for Jesus Christ, the Savior
of the world, and as it is now, the world is rescued by him.
And so we call him rightly, the scriptures call him over and
over and over again, the Savior of the world. Not only that,
but there are also in God's promises a promise of expansion of Christ's
kingdom to more and more of a universal scope over the years. In the
end, it will no longer be true as it was in John's day when
John said, we know that we are of God and the whole world lies
under the sway of the wicked one. The time will come when
what John said then will no longer apply. Instead, it will be the
case as prophesied in Psalm 86, 9, that all nations whom you
have made shall come and worship you, O Lord, and shall glorify
your name. In Psalm 72, 11, yes, all kings shall fall down before
him. All nations shall serve him. God is now in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself, and he will continue until the job is
finished. Romans 11, 25 through 31 speaks
of the fullness of Israel and of the Gentiles being brought
in. Paul says, I do not desire, brethren,
that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should
be wise in your own opinion. that blindness in part has happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved as it is written, the deliverer
will come out of Zion and he will turn away ungodliness from
Jacob. For this is my covenant with them when I take away their
sins. Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake,
but concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake
of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
For as you were once disobedient to God, Yet you have now obtained
mercy through their disobedience. Even so, these also have now
been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you, they also
may obtain mercy. Jesus Christ came to save the
world. He died for the world, and so
the world lives and will live. In time, the world will believe.
Jesus has interceded for the world in John 17. He doesn't
pray for the world, those that do not believe. But then he goes
on to say, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those
who will believe in me through their word and talking about
the future, that they may be one as you father and me and
I and you, that they also may be in us and that the world may
believe that you sent me. The glory which you gave me,
I have given them that they may be one just as we are one, I
in them and you and me, that they may be made perfect in one
and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved
them as you have loved me. Now, to what extent the world
would be saved, in other words, what proportion of people, I
cannot say. We know that at the end there
will be tears that will be rooted out when the judgment day comes
that are in the world and that will not be among those who are
saved. But we know that as the world
is, that the world is saved by Jesus Christ. He came to save
it. He will save it. He does save it. He is saving
it. Okay, so that's the first thing. The second thing is that
Christ died for the church. By church, I use that in the
sense including the people of the Old Covenant and the New
Covenant, His covenant people, the Great Assembly as it's called
in Psalm 22. So, the Bible tells us that Christ
died for His church, for the covenant people. In Matthew 1.21,
it is promised that she shall bring forth a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus, for he shall save, who? His people from their
sins. His people are those who are
in covenant with God. In Psalm 137 and eight, it promises
redemption to Israel. It says, O Israel, hope in the
Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is abundant
redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Same is said of the church in
the New Testament. In Acts 2028, Paul says, therefore,
take heed to yourselves. He's speaking to the elders.
Therefore, take heed to yours to yourselves and to all the
flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd
the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Notice it
says the church was purchased. If Jesus purchased it, he will
get it. He bought it. The price was right.
It was good. The redemption price was was
sufficient, so he purchased the church. He will be given the
church. Ephesians 525 through 26 tells us that Christ loved
the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and
cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present her to himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and
without blemish. He's going to accomplish that.
He will do that. Now, this should be a great comfort
to us. When Jesus went to the cross, it was for the whole church. As the head of the church, He
went before God, is our representative. He calls us brethren, because
we are all sanctified by His shed blood. Hebrews 2.11, it
says, for both He who sanctifies, that's Christ, He's the one that
sets us apart to God, and those who are being sanctified, all
the people that are being sanctified, are all of one. For which reason
he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare
your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly,
I will sing praise to you. So he looks at all of the covenant
people as his brethren. And he because he sanctified
them by his blood, he recognizes them as brothers. And when the
scripture says in Isaiah, all we like sheep have gone astray,
the we is covenant people, isn't it? But the Lord has laid on
him The iniquity of us all. So the iniquity of the covenant
people is laid on Christ. In this, Jesus is like the high
priest in the Old Testament who performed his work, having the
names of the twelve tribes written on his breastplate. The priest
went in with those names to offer atonement for those ones who
were written. As a priest, he represents us
and offers himself for us. Exodus 28, 21 says, and the stones
shall have the names of the sons of Israel, 12 according to their
names, like the engravings of a signet. Each one with his own
name, they shall be according to the 12 tribes. Jesus' offering,
of course, does its job. It's effective in taking away
our sins. Hebrews 10, 14 says, for by one
offering, he has perfected forever. those who are being sanctified.
Therefore, the church is saved. Therefore, the church will continue
forever in the blessing of God in Christ. Matthew 16, 18, Jesus
says, I say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will
build my church. The gates of Hades will not prevail
against it. Even death and the grave will
not conquer the church, but it will go on forever. But this
does not mean that there are no false sons in the church. The Bible is clear that there
are among the covenant people false sons who will be cast out.
Jesus said it himself in Matthew 8 11. I say to you that many
will come from the east and the west. He's talking about the
Gentiles. Sit down with Abraham. They'll come to the true faith.
Sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. So sons of the kingdom cast out. There will also be, of course,
false sons among those Gentiles that come in over the years.
In John 15, Jesus says in verse one, I am the true vine and my
father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me, notice that,
in me, see the branches are part of his covenant people, that
does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears
fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. And then in
verse six, he says, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast
out as a branch and is withered. And they gather them and throw
them into the fire and they are burned. Now, there is a sense
in which we can say that the blood of Christ bought even those
persons that are cast out. There's a sense in which we can
say that. The Bible says that such were bought by the blood
of Christ in a relative way of speaking. Second Peter 2.1, for
example, it says, there are also false prophets among the people,
even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring
in destructive heresies. Peter's saying that's gonna happen
in the New Testament church. Even denying the Lord who bought
them and bring on themselves swift destruction. You see, there
are covenant people, so they are said to be bought. Hebrews
10 29, likewise, says of how much worse punishment do you
suppose? Will he be thought worthy who
has trampled underfoot the son of God, counted the blood of
the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and
insulted the spirit of grace? He's not regarded the blood of
Christ as something that was holy, something that was special,
that was presented by God for redemption. Yet he was in the
covenant. He was sanctified by that blood somehow. Well, as
I say, it was in a relative sense. You see, these were not bought
personally. If they had been bought personally,
then they would be saved. The blood of Jesus would have
its saving effect. The idea is that they were part
of the church of the covenant people that was purchased by
the blood of Jesus Christ. And so by their association with
the church, they were set apart by the blood of the covenant.
The whole covenant people are set apart to God by the blood
of the covenant. As in Romans 11, they were part
of the tree in the same way that a dead branch is part of a tree. As a dead branch, they will be
cut off, as Jesus said in John 15, and be cast away into the
fire because they do not participate in the life of the tree. Now,
a comparison. This can be compared to our own
sanctification. as individual Christians, our
personal sanctification. There are dead parts in you right
now as a believer that do not belong. There is corruption that
remains in you and it must be purged away and it will be purged
away by the Lord. As long as those dead parts remain,
they are still a part of you. It's still you, but they will
be cut off because they're not really of you. We shall be saved, but not that
which is corrupt in us." So you see, the person is saved and
the corruption is cut off even as part of the salvation. So
all of you who are members of the church, take note. Beware of covenant presumption. Just because you're part of the
covenant people of God does not mean that you'll be saved, just
because you're part of the church. It's sanctified, set apart. It's
only those who believe among that number that will be saved.
The dead branches will be cut off just as surely as the living
branches will be saved. So you see that it is not that
Christ died for the dead branches, but somehow His death had no
saving effect on them. It is rather that Christ died
for the whole tree He died for the church and the church is
surely saved, but he did not die for the dead branches of
that church. Part of the salvation of the
tree includes cutting off those dead branches because it wouldn't
be a complete salvation if the dead branches remained. So then
Christ died for the world. The world is therefore saved.
Christ died for the church. The church is therefore saved. And finally, I want you to see
that Christ died for the elect. He calls these his sheep. When
he speaks of them as individuals, he calls them his sheep. John
10, 11, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives
his life for what? The sheep. Not for the goats,
but for the sheep. Jesus does not give his life
for the goats, but only for the sheep. He knows who they are.
In John 10, 14, he says, I am the good shepherd. I know my
sheep and am known by my own. As the father knows me, even
so I know the father. And I lay down my life for everybody,
the sheep and the goat. No, I lay down my life for the
sheep. that he knows, he will gather
every single one of those who are his sheep into the fold. John 10, 16, he says, and other
sheep I have, which are not of this fold. They've not been gathered
in yet. Them also I must bring, and they
will hear my voice. And there will be one flock and
one shepherd. They'll hear the call of God.
They'll be awoken by that call and they'll come. The Holy Spirit
will connect them to Christ through the gospel. The result is that
not one of them will perish, not one of the sheep. John 10, 27, my sheep hear my
voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal
life and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone 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 my father's hand. Not one of these will perish
because Christ died for them. And if he died for them, then
his death will accomplish what it was purposed to accomplish.
What was the purpose to accomplish? Salvation. His death does more,
you see, than merely make salvation possible. It actually saves. Consider these facts. He died
to redeem and to purchase. So if you go to purchase something,
pay for it, to redeem it, then you've paid the price and it's
given to you. Galatians 3.13 says, Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse
for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.
Doesn't say he put up the money for our redemption, but it says
that he actually redeemed. The result of our redemption
is deliverance from the kingdom of darkness. Colossians 1.13
says, he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed
us into the kingdom of the son of his love, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Okay,
so he died to redeem or to purchase. Secondly, he died to justify. So his death does justify. Romans 5.8, God demonstrates
his own love toward us and that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more than having now been
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
So if he died to justify someone, to make them righteous with God,
he does make them righteous with God. He died to propitiate. So his death does propitiate. I read 1 John 1, 1 and 2. I mean, I keep saying 1 John
1, 1 John 2, 1 and 2. It says, my little children,
these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if
anyone sins, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous. And he is the propitiation for
our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world. 1 John 4, 10. And this is love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the
propitiation for our sins. See, there was a definite purpose
stated here for his coming, to be a propitiation. He came to
turn away the wrath of God, in other words, the judicial wrath
of God, and so by his suffering, he did turn away the judicial
wrath of God. And fourthly, he died to expiate. So his death therefore does expiate
or cleanse from guillotine pollution. Titus 2.14 says, who gave himself
for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify
for himself his own special people zealous for good works. Hebrews
9.14 says, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. And
fifthly, he died to reconcile. So if he died to reconcile, his
death does reconcile. Romans 5.10, for if when we were
sinners, we were reconciled to God through the death of his
son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Second Corinthians 5.18, Now all things are of God who has
reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us
the ministry of reconciliation. That is that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses
to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Colossians 1.21, and you who
are alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet
now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death.
to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight."
So you see that what Christ set out to do, all these things that
He did in His death, set out to do by His death, He does do. All this shows then that He did
not come to us with mere potentiality to make salvation possible. He actually came bringing salvation,
imparting salvation, bestowing salvation. He came not to try
to save, but to save. Some people complain that by
saying that Christ did not die for every individual, that we
limit the atonement. I cannot accept that statement.
It is God who has chosen. who to save, and he has chosen
not to save every individual. He is the one who limits who
will be saved, and he is under no obligation to save even one
of us. And as for the atonement, the
atonement the Bible describes is not an atonement that tries
to take away our sin, sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails.
What would it be for Christ to redeem everyone and then for
them to not be redeemed? That would be an atonement, you
see, that failed to atone. No, the redemption that Christ
accomplished paid the full price of sin. It doesn't fail to purchase
those for whom it was set down. What all this means is that you
can come to him with full confidence. He doesn't. He not only promises
that everyone who comes to him that that that he He not only
promises that everyone whom he has been given to save will come
to him for salvation, but he also promises that everyone who
does come to him and believes will be saved. John 6 36 says,
But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe
all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who
comes to me all by no means cast out. So you see, there's two
statements there. all the ones that God has chosen and that
Jesus laid down his life for, everyone of them will come. And
the other statement, everyone that comes will be saved. So there's never a situation
where you have an individual that says, boy, I sure like to
be saved. And he tries to go to Jesus and Jesus says, I'm
sorry, you're not elect. It doesn't happen. If anyone
comes to him, that person will be saved. But no one does come
to him. except by the working of the
Holy Spirit, someone that Christ has laid down His life for. Those
are the only ones that do come. So this means that there will
never be a person who wants to be saved and cannot be saved.
And that means that you can have full assurance that if you want
to be saved, if you want to come to Christ, if you come to Him
and you look to Him and you call upon Him, He will not cast you
out. It's an absolute certain thing.
So no one is blocked from coming. It's just that we don't want
to come because of our hardened hearts unless God works in us. And then
we thank him for his grace that has changed us so that we were
willing and able to come to him for salvation. Let's call upon
the name of our God. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for what Jesus Christ has done for us. We thank you for the
confidence that it gives to us that he doesn't fail. in his purpose to save the world,
to save the church, and to save every single one of his sheep.
And we pray that you would help us to see how all of this works
out so marvelously in the scriptures, that everything you say is true,
that nothing is contradictory. And Father, we know that that
there is a lot of confusion on this matter today, and we pray
that you would help us, Lord, to be clear about this so that
we can give Christ the honor that is due to Him for His redeeming
mercies, that His redeeming grace is that which does indeed redeem,
that it accomplishes exactly what it was purposed to accomplish.
And we pray, O Lord, that we would also be free of the notion
that we somehow raised ourselves up that somehow we redeemed ourselves
for we did not. We only are able to respond to
the call of God when it comes to us with the effective power
of the Holy Spirit. So we pray Lord that you would
teach us to to be humble before you and to give you all the glory
for our salvation and to bring our our crowns and lay them at
Jesus' feet. We thank You for what He has
done. We ask for Your blessing now on us in His name. Amen.
WLC Q59 - Christ died for the World, the Church, the Elect
Series Westminster Larger Catechism
Q. 59. Who are made partakers of redemption through Christ?
A. Redemption is certainly applied, and effectually communicated, to all those for whom Christ hath purchased it; who are in time by the Holy Ghost enabled to believe in Christ according to the gospel.
| Sermon ID | 32016102111616 |
| Duration | 44:03 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | John 6:33-40 |
| Language | English |
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