“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.”—Matthew 20:28.
I begin this morning with the doctrine of Redemption. “He gave his life a ransom for many.”
The doctrine of Redemption is one of the most important doctrines of
the system of faith. A mistake on this point will inevitably lead to a
mistake through the entire system of our belief.
Now, you are aware that there are different theories of Redemption.
All Christians hold that Christ died to redeem, but all Christians do
not teach the same redemption. We differ as to the nature of atonement,
and as to the design of redemption. For instance, the Arminian holds
that Christ, when He died, did not die with an intent to save any
particular person; and they teach that Christ’s death does not in itself
secure, beyond doubt, the salvation of any one man living. They believe
that Christ died to make the salvation of all men possible, or that by
the doing of something else, any man who pleases may attain unto eternal
life; consequently, they are obliged to hold that if man’s will would
not give way and voluntarily surrender to grace, then Christ’s atonement
would be unavailing. They hold that there was no particularity and
speciality in the death of Christ. Christ died, according to them, as
much for Judas in Hell as for Peter who mounted to Heaven. They believe
that for those who are consigned to eternal fire, there was a true and
real a redemption made as for those who now stand before the throne of
the Most High. Now, we believe no such thing. We hold that
Christ, when He died, had an object in view, and that object will most
assuredly, and beyond a doubt, be accomplished. We measure the design of
Christ’s death by the effect of it. If any one asks us, “What did
Christ design to do by His death?” we answer that question by asking him
another—”What has Christ done, or what will Christ do by His death?”
For we declare that the measure of the effect of Christ’s love, is the
measure of the design of it. We cannot so belie our reason as to think
that the intention of Almighty God could be frustrated, or that the
design of so great a thing as the atonement, can by any way whatever, be
missed of. We hold—we are not afraid to say that we believe—that Christ
came into this world with the intention of saving “a multitude which no
man can number;” and we believe that as the result of this, every
person for whom He died must, beyond the shadow of a doubt, be cleansed
from sin, and stand, washed in blood, before the Father’s throne. We do
not believe that Christ made any effectual atonement for those who are
for ever damned; we dare not think that the blood of Christ was ever
shed with the intention of saving those whom God foreknew never could be
saved, and some of whom were even in Hell when Christ, according to
some men’s account, died to save them. Continue at Refocusing Our Eyes
See Also:
