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For God So Loved the World
Every Christian believes in limited atonement. That may sound ludicrous to my Arminian friends because it has long been assumed that only Calvinists hold to the dreaded “L” in TULIP. But if the death of Jesus Christ is recognized as an actual atonement (and not merely a potential one), then the question of limitation cannot be escaped, unless you believe the lie of universalism. It is the recognition that Christ’s death actually atoned for sins that governs our interpretation of those wonderful texts that speak of the great breadth of His saving work. For example, John writes that Jesus is … View Resource
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For God So Loved the World
To many, the topics of common grace and atonement would seem to be mutually exclusive, as if we should either hold to common grace or to definite atonement, but not to both. There are, however, good biblical and theological reasons for holding both the Reformed doctrines of common grace and definite atonement. By common grace I do not mean that God has endowed all humans with a universal gift whereby, if they will, they may do what is necessary to obtain salvation. Rather, using the formula adopted by the Christian Reformed Churches in 1924, “common grace” means three things: First … View Resource
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The Death of Pride
I once had a girlfriend who was a classic liberal. Don’t misunderstand. She wasn’t a classical liberal, that is, one with a profound desire for liberty, one who was skeptical about the role of the state. No, strangely enough, this particular young lady was the prototype of a modern liberal. She never met a social cause she didn’t like. She was so far off center that she was the left wing-tip. She was a graduate of the mecca of liberals, the University of California at Berkeley. Her error motivated me not to end the relationship, but to try to put … View Resource
