The Limitless Reach of Christ

I consider the theological tenet of “Limited Atonement” to be slander against God and His Christ. And, since it is slander against the Author of scripture, it is not only not supported by scripture but is refuted by it.

I will back up my charge of slander against “Limited Atonement” first.

Paul stated, “we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” (1 Tim 4:10). God is the Savior of all, yet the Apostle adds the caveat regarding believers. The Kingdom of Heaven being populated by fewer people than all who have walked this earth will not be due to a limited number of invitations sent out by God. It will be because so many refused to accept His invitation.

“It is a trustworthy saying and deserving full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 4:10). Here Paul shows the atonement of Christ is “limited” to… sinners… in the world. Yes, let he who is without sin be the first to say Christ didn’t die for him! As for the rest of us, we can each find personal solace in Paul’s words.

I can’t help but thinking Paul’s “deserving of full acceptance” means “not subject to the caveats of Christians who find this truth inconvenient to their teachings”.

But purveyors of “Limited Atonement” always run to John 6, the inner sanctum of this teaching. Let’s consider their proof texts:

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (Jn 6:44).

“For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” (Jn 6:65).

Of course, Christ is speaking to people who clearly don’t seem to be invited by the Father. (At least not yet.)

Yet, neither of these statements even hint that teeming hordes have been consigned to eternal torment by a purposeful lack of action by the Father. Nor does either verse imply that everyone tapped on the shoulder by God will actually come to Christ. People read such presuppositions into these statements. They don’t discover them in there.

Saying everyone who comes to Christ was drawn by God does NOT say everyone drawn by God will come to Christ. Christ Himself called the rich young ruler. Mark first tells us Christ loved that young man. He still refused, turning around and walking away.

I am speaking against “Limited Atonement” here, not against “irresistible grace”. Yet, the implications of “irresistible grace” do come into play, as revealed by a simple question:

If the Father intended to “draw” all, by “granting” any can come, how would that harm the statements by Jesus I quoted above?

There is a large swath of Christians who would immediately complain that would mean “Universalism” was true. And, since “Universalism” is not true, then God couldn’t possibly be drawing and enabling all. “How could the Father and Son fail? If someone is drawn, then Christ will save them!”

“But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him” (Lk 7:30). Humans are not automatons. Though exhorted and even quickened, they can still choose to refuse Christ. Or they can later prove false to Christ, though they initially responded positively to His call.

In any case, I’m establishing the extensive reach of Christ. Once gospel truth is established, we need to adjust our opinion of other things accordingly. Think of how revolutionary it was for First Century Jewish Christians to adjust to that first great revelation of the expansive reach of Christ, that it included Gentiles:

“And when they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life’” (Act 11:18). It wasn’t quite that easy for them, as is seen later in Acts. It would take a lot of soul searching and debate for them to shed old prejudices and assumptions about natural Israel and Gentiles.

So, what are my complements to Jesus stating no one can come unless it is granted and they are drawn? How do I balance those?

“God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent” (Act 17:30).

Everyone. Everywhere. But where is the granting in that? Where is the drawing?

God is no hypocrite:

“Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers” (Lk 11:46).

God supplies what He requires. He enables those He commands.

For instance, He told Elijah He had commanded a widow to provide for him (1 Kg 17:9). Yet He then assured that widow He wouldn’t let her flour and oil run out for the full duration of the famine (1 Kg 17:14).

When His disciples were worried about a large, hungry crowd, Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat” (Lk 9:13). Yet understand what happened next:

Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. And He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd” (Luk 9:16).

Every command of God is a promise of God in disguise.

Rest assured, if God commands “everyone everywhere” to repent and turn to Christ, then He has granted that everyone everywhere may come. His drawing of everyone everywhere is found in His command to everyone everywhere to repent.