The Calvinist says that Jesus died only
for some, the Arminian says that Jesus died for all. It's a very
short summary of both positions, and such a short summary often leads
to misunderstandings about the full meaning. Spelled out a little
more clearly, the Arminian position can be summed up this way:
Every drop of
Jesus' blood fully fulfilled both of Christ's atonement goals: to
provide salvation for all, and to procure salvation for the elect.
This is very important, because it
dispels many of myths believed about the doctrine of Unlimited
Atonement. The statement above refers to a combination of three
specific beliefs:
(1) Every drop of Jesus' blood fully
fulfilled both of Christ's atonement goals:
(2) to provide salvation for all, and
(3) to procure salvation for the
elect.
Whose sin was covered by Christ? Only
the elect. Those to whom the blood of Christ is applied are those who
are saved. Only the elect receive the salvific benefits of the
atonement. In this manner, it can be said that Arminians also limit
the extent of the atonement:
A - Christ limits the provision of
salvation to only provide for those in the human race,
B - and He limits the application of
salvation to only cover those who are the elect, those who believe.
In that sense, then, to sum up the
doctrine as “unlimited atonement” is also a language shortcut
that leads to misunderstandings.
Permit me to offer an analogy to make
the Arminian concept of the atonement clear:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:14
The serpent, being lifted up, provided
a way of healing for all who were bitten. It was sufficient for the
healing of all of them. However, not all of them received the benefit
of that offer. Only those who looked upon the serpent were healed.
The serpent was sufficient for the healing of all, but only
efficacious for the healing of those who looking upon it. The serpent
was lifted up for all those who were suffering from snake bites, but
only those who looked on it were granted the healing offered by the
Lord.
To summarize, this is the difference
between the Calvinist and Arminian understanding of the intent and
scope of the atonement:
Calvinist: The
atonement procures salvation only for the elect.
Arminian: The
atonement procures salvation only for the elect, and also provides
salvation for everyone.
__________________________________________________
So now that I've laid out a clear
statement of the Arminian position, let's look at some of the
misunderstandings that I have heard about this view:
The Claim: #1 Arminians limit the
power of the atonement
Now, obviously, a mere moral cannot
limit God's power. What the Calvinist means by this statement is that
the Arminian view paints the atonement as less powerful than it
actually is.
I will give two reasons why this idea
is false. The first reason is that the Arminian claims not that the
atonement did less, but that the atonement did more. As you may
recall, the Arminian believes that Jesus' death accomplished both (A)
the provision of salvation to all and (B) the application of
salvation to the elect (believers). The Calvinist only belives that
Christ's death accomplished (A) and not (B).
The second reason is that only God can
limit Himself; there are no external limitations. Any limitations on
salvation are placed by God Himself. The Arminian claims that the
atonement accomplished the intent of the atonement. Christ wanted to
provide salvation for all, and He achieved that. Christ wanted to
procure salvation for the elect, and He accomplished that. Where is
the limit of power? God demonstrated the power to achieve all of His
objectives here.
The Claim: #2 In Arminianism, in
fact, the atonement is potential, but made actual when one believes.
If you remember point (1) from the
beginning of this blog, you will recall that the Arminian belief is
that “Every drop of Jesus' blood fully fulfilled both of Christ's
atonement goals.” There is nothing potential about “fully
fulfilled.” When Christ died on the cross, His blood actually
covered the sins of past, present, and future believers. His covering
of our (us Christians) sins was actual before we believed.
Looking at point (2) next: Christ
intended to provide salvation for all, and He DID actually provide
salvation for all. Intent accomplished.
Look at (3) now: He intended to save
the elect (those who believe) and He DID actually save the elect.
Intent accomplished.
You might begin to see a pattern. The
pattern is that every intent of Christ was accomplished. This is why
Jesus cried out “It is finished!” Which means, it was
accomplished.
There is nothing potential here. Both
intents were ACTUALLY (and not potentially) fulfilled.
The Claim: #3 In Arminanism, the
blood of Christ doesn't actually cover the sins of anyone.
This is an obviously false claim. All
Arminians believe that they are going to heaven, they believe on
Christ as Savior, and they believe that His blood actually covers
their sin; that's how they believe they will avoid hell. See point
(3), “to procure salvation for the elect.” The shed blood of
Christ fully fulfilled this intention, and when Jesus died, His blood
covered the sins of the elect.
So, given that we claim that Christ's
blood actually covered the sins of the elect, it would be impossible
for us to also believe that Christ's blood didn't actually cover the
sin of anyone. This is the point of agreement between the Arminian
and the Calvinist: That when Christ died, His atonement covered the
sins of, and procured salvation for, the elect (believers).
The Claim: #4 If Jesus died for
all, and it's not just potential, then you are left with
universalism.
To say that “Jesus died for all,”
in this case is confusing, because it does not specific whether the
writer is speaking of Christ's providing salvation or procuring
salvation. We will look at the statement using both possible
meanings:
“If Jesus
died to provide (but not procure) salvation for all, and it's not
just potential, then you are left with universalism.”
You can see why
this is false. If Jesus died to provide salvation for all, and it's
not potential, then it means that all were actually provided for, not
that all were saved. Salvation, in this case, was not procured for
all.
“If Jesus
died to procure salvation for all, and it's not just potential, then
you are left with universalism.”
That would be true. But we don't
believe that Jesus died to procure salvation for all. He wanted to
procure salvation only for the elect. His atonement only covers the
sins of the elect. Therefore, it's not universalism.
The Claim: #5 In Arminanism, some
of Jesus' blood was wasted
A calvinist told me that according to
my beliefs, " some blood is wasted because the blood that is
provided for all, does not actually save all."
However, it's not like some blood was
put toward providing salvation for all, and a different portion of
blood was put toward procuring salvation for the elect. Each drop of
blood (see point 1) was accomplishing both purposes. Every drop of
blood actually covers the sin of the elect. How is that a waste?
It's not. Every drop of blood, in addition to covering the sins of
the elect, gives the provision of salvation to everyone in the world.
Does accomplishing more make it a waste somehow? Certainly not.
Again, I would remind the reader, the
Arminians believe that the atonement accomplished the same thing that
the Calvinist believes: Namely, it accomplishes the salvation of
the elect.
This is not a waste. The Arminian also
believes that, in addition to that intent, the atonement provided
salvation for all men:
“This man came
for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all
through him might believe.” (John 1:7)
“For the love
of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for
all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who
live should live no longer for themselves...” (2 Corinthians
5:14-15)
“For there is
one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in
due time,” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
“For to this
end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living
God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those
who believe.” (1 Timothy 4:10)
“But we see
Jesus, who... by the grace of God, might taste death for
everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9)
