Thursday, August 25, 2011

Bible Truth #243 - 1 John 4:10

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

This is love, not that we loved God... Not that we loved God? Yes, NOT that we loved God - because in our lost condition we could not love God and in fact, we hated God (John 3:20). It was impossible for us to do ANYTHING pleasing to Him (Romans 8:8).

But the part of the verse I would like to emphasize is the latter half... God loved who? God loved US, not every soul who ever lived, but US. John goes on to write that He sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of who? For OUR sins, not the sins of the whole world, or every soul who ever lived. God sent Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice for OUR sins. His blood was shed for the sins of many, not all (Mark 14:24).

There are numerous places in the Bible where God’s love, or Jesus atoning sacrifice, is qualified, meaning it was for us, the recipients of the letters and by clear implication, ALL who would believe through the millennia. In the few places like John 3:16 or 1 John 2:2 where it appears that God’s love or sacrifice is for the whole world, the Arminian interpretation is irreconcilable with other Scripture that clearly delineates two groups of people: the chosen, the Elect, the Bride of Christ, those predestined for Glory, AND the other group - those whom God has prepared for destruction (Romans 9:22), those who were destined to stumble over the Stone, a chosen and precious Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:8), Jesus.

Bottom Line - Atonement is limited to those whom God has chosen. And God did the choosing before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and not because of anything we have done (2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5).

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