Bible Truth #360 - Mark 14:24

Mark 14:24
And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

Most Bible believers will recognize that Jesus spoke this at the Last Supper, barely minutes before He was to go to the Garden of Gethsamane where He would be betrayed.

Here in this verse Jesus makes it clear He will NOT shed His Blood for all men (pas), nor will He shed His Blood for each and every (hekastos) man ever born. He would shed His Blood for many (polys). And who are they? Who are the many for whom He would shed His blood? The many are His Elect, those chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). The same ones Jesus will raise up after the Father draws them (John 6:44).

The way those who believe in decisional salvation grasp a misunderstanding of a few terms in clear contradiction of voluminous passages and many precepts is hard to understand. Yes, easy to believe if you accept God's sovereignty (Philippians 2:13) but hard, if not impossible, to understand nonetheless.

Some Christians with whom I’ve discussed this have said that Jesus mixes “many” and “all” numerous times on the subject of His death and salvation. They’re absolutely right! And the wonderful thing about this is that it CAN BE reconciled!

One of the biggest stumbling blocks Arminians have, and anyone who believes in decisional salvation, is that they believe the Greek word pas (Strong’s #3956) can only mean individually (each and every) every time it is used. This Greek word can be used two ways:
1) individually - each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, etc. OR
2) collectively - some of all types or groups. I give several examples of “all” being used collectively (some of all types) in Bible Truth #330.

So when you have Jesus mixing “many” and “all” on the same subject, the only way it can be reconciled is that He was using “all” in the context of Greek definition #2, some of all types, not each and every one individually. There it is, plain and simple. The truth may be argued but it can never be refuted.

Even though Jesus will be dead in less than 24 hours from the time He said this, AND that it is obvious that He is talking about His crucifixion, AND even though He says many, there will be a multitude of Christians who will continue to say He died for all, each and every man individually.

Sorry, Jesus' own words refute anyone who will say that He died for each and every man ever born. “This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.”  These are they who will return with Him (Revelation 17:14).