|
From: Keith Lockwood
I was listening to a program on Christian talk radio over the weekend in which a prominent evangelical leader was answering questions put forth by his congregation. The very first question was, "Does Christ's death on the cross paid for everyone's sins?" The pastor began explaining that Jesus' death on the cross only paid for the sins of the believers. His main premise was that if Christ's death paid for everyone's sins, then it would be highly illogical to expect God to punish unbelievers with eternal torment in hell for the very sins that Christ paid for. Basically this Christian leader chose to make void what God clearly states in the Bible in order to maintain the vain, human tradition of eternal torment for the unbeliever. He ignored basic, clear, direct statements such John the Baptist declaring that Jesus is "the Lamb of God which takes away the sin OF THE WORLD" (John 1:29); that "God, was in Christ, reconciling THE WORLD to Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor. 5:19); That Jesus gave "Himself a ransom for ALL" (1 Timothy 2:6); and here may be the most convincing statement, that Jesus "is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] THE WHOLE WORLD" (1 John 2:2). The preacher went on to explain that there are passages in the Bible which speak of only believers having benefit from Christ's death. The fact that Christ's death pays for the sins of the small group of believers during this period of time does not take away from the fact that Jesus' death on the cross paid the price for the sins of all humanity! Within God's purpose for creation, it suits Him to have believers and nonbelievers, each vessels fitted for His glory. Believers fitted for a display of His grace and mercy, unbelievers fitted for a display of His power and judgment. But we can stand confident that just as surely as ALL die in Adam, ALL will be made alive in Christ (1 Cor. 15:22) and that in the end God will be ALL in ALL (v. 28).
|
