Sunday, September 4, 2011

Bible Truth #284 - Romans 8:32

32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

This is a verse that Arminians will use in their attempt to refute the Limited Atonement, the doctrine that hold Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection was for ONLY the Elect. They claim that “us all” in that verse is universal. Nothing could be further from the Truth. Let’s look at it in context.

31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

It should be obvious but I will mention it: this passage immediately follows Verses 29 & 30 which states unequivocally that God justifies and glorifies those He has called, without exception. Let me say that another way - God saves EVERY person He calls. God does not call every man to salvation (1 Corinthians 1:26). The creature is not given a choice in the matter of salvation (Bible Truth #4). And please, pay attention to the pronouns in these verses, I have underlined them above. To whom was Paul writing? To everyone in Rome? Or to the believers? Go back to Romans 1:7 for support of my conclusion. Paul is writing to believers, not everyone in Rome. The fact is, Paul identifies the group of people about whom is writing in verse 33 when he writes “God’s Elect.” So there is no need to even go back to the salutation in Chapter one. Every human being ever born is not God’s Elect. God chose His Elect in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).

Finally, look at verse 34 - Christ Jesus also maketh intercession for us. Will the Arminian say here that Christ is interceding at the right hand of God for the lost? Is Christ interceding for those who will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire? NO! That makes Christ a failure! That is not the Christ Who saved me. That is not a God whose Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). And above all else, that creates division in the Trinity - Christ interceding for a man whom God will send to Hell. The idea is not just false, it is lunacy.

If, however, the Arminian wants to take the verse out of context and look at verse 32 alone, let us take the entire verse. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Does the Arminian want to claim that Christ is “given” to the man who endures God’s wrath in eternity? And does he also claim that “all things” are given to the same man? Of course not! Now the Arminian may also say, “No. God does not give Christ to the man who rejects the free gift and the same can be said about giving him all things. God made it available to him and he rejected it.” I’m sorry but that is ludicrous. The Arminian is once again adding to Scripture. There is no “available” expressly stated nor implicit in this passage, nor anywhere else in the Bible. God DID it - He delivered Him up for us all (all the Elect) and He will with Christ give us (the Elect) all things.

It should be abundantly clear in this passage that “us all” does not mean every human being who ever lived. God chose a people for Himself before the foundation of the world, He placed those people in Christ (Ephesians 1:4) and when Christ died, we died, and when Christ was raised from the dead, we were raised from the dead - because “us all” were in Him.

If a man wasn’t placed in Christ before the foundation of the world, that man has no hope of being saved (Ephesians 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:13). But we are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all! (Mark 16:15)

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