Scriptural
Perspectives on Christ's Atonement Omitted By Many Bible Teachers
by Jon Zens
________________________________________________
A
sister recently inquired about using a certain popular book as an evangelistic
tool. I suggested that she consider using another option, and that I would
offer some thoughts on my reservations about that book. Here they are.
Does God Have a Plan?
After
the sin of Adam and Eve, all of history moved to the moment in the fullness of
time when Christ on
Was
Jesus dying just to make salvation "possible," or actually securing
the salvation of a number no one can number, made up of people from all over
the earth? Isa. 53:10-11 clearly teaches that "if He would
render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong
His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. As a
result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His
knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify many, as He will bear
their iniquities." Even though Jesus was cut off from among the living by the
crucifixion, He still ended up with "offspring," He "justified
many," and He "bore the sin of many" (Isa.53:12).
The
Scriptures teach uniformly that Christ did not die generally in hopes that some
might respond to His agony with faith; rather, He died specifically for a
people who were given to Him before the foundation of the world. Many Bible
teachers set forth the idea that Jesus died for everyone, but He really didn't
secure the salvation of anyone. Only the sinner's decision can make the
Savior's death fruitful. In accepting or rejecting Jesus' work, the choices of
sinners end up determining the success or failure of Messiah's work. God has
done all He possibly can, and now He waits for you to respond positively to the
cross. This view is set forth in popular fashion by Max Lucado
in "He Did This For You: What God Did to Win
Your Heart" (Word, 2000, 64pp.).
In
Lucado's view, God's setting forth of Christ is like a
carrot hanging in front of a horse. The sheer anguish of Christ is put before
the eyes of sinners in hopes that they will be drawn to partake of the carrot.
"His promise to do whatever it takes to save your soul" (p. 5)
"Armed with nothing more than a passion to win your heart, he came
looking" (p. 19). The Lord does all He can, but in the final analysis He
does not obtain the salvation of anyone. "God has done exactly what my
parents did. He has purchased your passage. He has equipped you for the journey.
God loves you so much that he wants you to be with him forever. The choice,
however, is up to you. Even though he stands at the door with ticket paid and
pocket money for the trip . . . many choose to go in directions other than the
one God intends" (p.42).
In
this popular view, God is powerless to bestow salvation on sinners. He makes
the ultimate sacrifice of sending His own Son to be killed, but even this event
can only be a means of influencing sinful human beings to make the right
choice. It cannot really purchase and thereby ensure the redemption of anyone.
Says Lucado:
"You'll end up in hell. Not
because God wants you in hell. His plan for you is heaven. Your destiny is
heaven. He'll do anything to get you to heaven, with one exception. There is
one thing he won't do. He won't force you. The decision is yours. But he has
done everything else . . . With all my heart, I urge you to accept God's destiny
for your life . . . Would you let him save you? This is the most important
decision you will ever make" (pp.45,50).
Lucado's perspectives on the atonement omit a number of
Scriptural teachings that must be set before us on the table in order to have a
full-orbed appreciation for what Christ accomplished on the cursed tree. I
cannot deal with every relevant Bible passage, but the ones I will present show
that there are dimensions to the Lord's work many Bible teachers avoid. The
Scripture is our acknowledged touchstone for truth. To present a partial view
of Christ's labors as if it were the full picture is to not be honest with the
Word of God, and can only result in people being misled. I will go through
contexts in God's Word in the order they appear in the Bible, beginning with
the Old Testament.
Sacrifices In
There
were numerous animal sacrifices prescribed by Moses. They were all pictures
(types, shadows) of what the final Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, would do. These
offerings could not take away sin, but Jesus did. Now were these blood
sacrifices general and universal, or specific and particular?
On
the Day of Atonement that occurred once a year, was the sacrifice offered for
everyone in the world, or just for
In
many of the sacrifices for an individual's sins, the hands of the guilty were
laid on the head of the animal, thus symbolically indicating that the person's
sin was imputed to the animal. This transaction was not nebulous. It was for a
specific person's transgressions.
Based
on these Old Testament pictures, it would be natural to expect that the sins of
specific people would be imputed to the Messiah. Just as the sins of the old
covenant people,
John 3:16
“God so loved the world.” To take the word “world” here numerically to
mean “every man, woman, and child who has ever lived” is to read a foreign
Western concept into the text. Who was Jesus speaking to in this context? A
bigoted Jewish leader who believed that God’s love rested in
John 4:42
“Savior of the world.” In this setting Jesus
had spoken with a Samaritan woman. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. This
sinful woman believes in Messiah, and then tells her fellow Samaritans about
Christ. What would “world” mean to Samaritans, who were excluded from
fellowship with
John 6:28-29
“What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” Here the Lord clearly
indicates that believing in Christ is not a work people do, but is a work that
God must do in the human heart. Lucado teaches that
God has done all He can, but then must anxiously wait to see who will make the
final, crucial act of making the choice to get on the right bus. An old hymn
captures the truth of John 6:28-29 when it says in part, “All the fitness He
requires is to feel your need of Him; This He gives you, This He gives you, ‘Tis the Spirit’s rising beam.”
John 6:37
“All that the Father gives Me shall
come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” Jesus teaches here that
there are specific people given by the Father to the Son. When do you suppose
these people were “given” to the Son? The only Scriptural answer is “before the foundation
of the world.” Bible teachers often quote the end of this verse, “the one who comes
will not be cast out,” but they fail to connect it with the opening remark, “All that the Father
gives…shall come.” They “come” because they were previously “given.”
John 6:65
“For this reason I have said to you, that no one is able to come
to Me, unless it has been granted him from the
Father.”
Lucado and other Bible teachers say that people come
to Christ on their own, that is, the choice is totally up to them. When have
you ever heard popular church leaders announce to people that sinners are not
able to come to the Son unless the Father grants them that ability? Jesus often
taught his disciples this vital perspective, “I have said to you.” Why is this
truth not heard in today’s gospel?
John 10:15
“I lay down my life for the sheep.” Among “the sheep” are believing Jews and Gentiles (
This
would imply that every person’s name who ever has
lived or ever will live was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But that is
simply not true. The truth is, He laid down His life for all kinds of people
all over the world who were “sheep,” given to the Son by the Father (
John 12:19
“See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the world has gone
after Him.” Here is an example of where the word “world” is used, but no one
would suggest that it includes every person ever born. The word “world” here
actually would encompass relatively few of the earth’s population. There is an
example in early Jewish literature where a teacher says, “Rabbi Ben------
entered the synagogue and the whole world stood up.” Again, no one could or
would entertain the idea that “whole world” entails all people on the earth.
Such usage is called an “idiom.” Every language has idioms, which the
dictionary calls, “an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to
itself.” Years ago I saw a newspaper headline that said, “World mourns
Presley’s death.” That’s an idiomatic use of language. Not everybody in the
world mourned his death, but many did. No one would argue that the headline had
to mean every person who existed in the world.
John 17:2
“For You granted Him authority over all
flesh in order that He might give eternal life to all those you have given to
Him.”
Here Jesus is petitioning the Father in His final days on earth. This text
states that Christ has universal authority over every one in order that He can
bestow life to those given to Him by the Father. Christ in His earthly ministry
accomplished something concrete – “I manifested Your
name to the people you gave Me out of the world; they were Yours, and You gave
them to Me, and they have kept Your word” (17:6).
Are
you seeing the emerging pattern? The Father gives a people to the Son; the Son
gives His life for them; the Spirit comes and dwells in them after Christ is
glorified via resurrection. Father, Son, and Spirit are not making salvation
potentially possible for every one, but guaranteeing the salvation of no one;
rather, they are purposing to save a sinful people from all over the earth, a
number so large that no one can count it, and assuring that Jesus will lose
none of them, but raise them all up in the last day (John 6:37-40). God’s elect
people will be called, justified and glorified (Rom.
John 17:9
“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but
of those whom You have give Me, for they are Yours.” Here in His high
priestly prayer Jesus specifically limits His petition to those given to Him by
the Father. He does not pray for “the world.” How do the Lord’s words fit into
a theology that posits, as Lucado does, that “God’s
list contains the name of every person who has ever lived….He loves the world”
(p. 36). Lucado’s views create a situation where the
Trinity is apparently at odds with each other. The Father loves the world
without exception, but the Son does not include “the world” in His prayer.
Something is seriously amuck. People are not constructing their opinions based
upon a careful, thorough study of God’s Word.
Acts
As
sort of an aside, it is significant to note that components of modern
evangelism are absent in the Book of Acts. “God loves you” has become almost a
trite cliché in modern gospel presentations, yet the word “love” is never used
in any of the proclamations in Acts. “God loves you” is never said to anybody,
and the phrase “Christ died for you” is never employed in Acts. The apostles
never used “altar calls” or led people in “sinner’s prayers.” Instead, they
proclaimed Christ as Lord in His death, burial and resurrection, and pointed
out gospel patterns in redemptive history. The Lord opened hearts to respond to
the gospel, people were baptized, and they started meeting together as
assemblies.
Acts
“And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and
glorifying the Word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal
life believed.” The gospel has now expanded to include the Gentiles. Why were
these people turning to the Lord? How was this to be accounted for? Was it
because, as Lucado maintains, the choice was theirs
(p. 25)? We must think through what is happening here. Was the “belief” unto
salvation that occurred attributed to human “choice” or to God’s eternal
purpose in Christ? The text is unequivocal – “as many as had been appointed to
eternal life believed.” Human origin is ruled out; divine origin is asserted. Lucado’s theology has no place for the whole counsel of
God. The will of God, in his scheme, does not result in the salvation of any
one; the will of sinful humans is assumed to be the deciding factor in bringing
salvation to fruition.
Acts
“
The
clear implication is that if the Lord left us to our “choices” as sinners no
one would ever come to Christ for salvation. The Lord must command the gospel
light to shine into our darkness, or salvation will be unknown. Lucado says that there is one thing God will not do, ”He won’t force you” (p. 45). He misses the point because
he does not apparently comprehend the depth of human depravity. If the Lord
does not make a sinner willing in the day of His power, no one would ever come
to Christ if left to themselves.
Acts
“Shepherd the church [ekklesia] of God which He
purchased with His own blood.” These words spoken by Paul to the Ephesian elders do not teach that Jesus’ atonement was a
general event with no focus. How could God’s Word be clearer? When Jesus died
He actually purchased a specific people from all over the world. Jesus died for
His “sheep,” His ekklesia. In Romans 6, Paul uses
strong Greek words that indicate the people He died for were co-crucified,
co-buried, and co-raised with the Lord. Why do Bible teachers generalize
Christ’s atonement, when text after text in the New Testament specifies an
identifiable object of His sufferings – He purchased the church with His own
blood? Does it reflect honesty in handling God’s word if many portions that
state that He died for specific people are omitted?
Romans 11:11-15
“For if their [the Jews] rejection be the reconciliation of the
world [Gentiles], what will their [the Jews] acceptance be but life from the
dead?”
Here is a fascinating context where the word “world” is used interchangeably
with “Gentiles.” Notice the interplay: “by their transgression salvation has come to
the Gentiles. . . . Now if their transgression be riches for the world
[Gentiles] and their failure be riches for the
Gentiles. . . . for if their rejection be the
reconciliation of the world [Gentiles].” The word “world” in this setting is not used in
a numerical sense, as in “every person in the world,” but in a broad
people-group sense, as in that which is outside of Judaism.
The
gospel going beyond
Ephesans 5:23-32
“Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” Again, in this setting
Paul connects Christ’s death with a definite people – the church. Christ is
said to be the “Head of the church, He himself being the Savior of the body” (
How
would a wife feel if her husband said, “Honey, I love you greatly and more than
any other woman, but I have to tell you that in truth I love all the other
women of the world too.” Lucado’s theology portrays
Christ as loving all the women of the world equally, but His death for them
does not guarantee that He will have a bride – that depends solely on the
“choices” the women make on their own.
Paul,
on the other hand, has a theology of purpose and victory – Christ comes and
purchases with the cross the church given to Him by the Father. Even though
Christ is “cut off” from seeing any physical seed, the purpose of the Lord prospers
in His hand and He “sees His seed,” His people, the people given to Him by the
Father.
Can Elephants Fly?
One
of Lucado’s most fundamental problems is that he
assumes sinners can choose to get on the gospel train at will. He notes:
According to the Bible, we are “by nature children of
wrath”
(Eph. 2:3). It isn’t that we can’t do good. We do.
It’s just that we can’t keep from doing bad. “There is none righteous, not even one
. . . All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom.
“It
isn’t that we can’t do good. We do.” That is a false
statement. Sinful men, women and children cannot do good.
In fact, he cited Romans 3, but omitted the part which says, “There is none who
does good, not even one” (Rom.
An
elephant could get up one morning and think, “I want to fly today like those
birds,” but he will not be successful in such a venture. Likewise, humans are
sinful and wicked, and they can only act according to that nature. Paul says,
quoting the Old Testament, “there is none righteous (not one), none who understands,
none who seeks for God, none who does good (not one),
none who has the fear of God before their eyes” (Rom.
Lucado thinks people have the innate ability as
sinners to choose the gospel, but they don’t. As God said to
The
famous picture of Christ standing outside the door of a sinner’s heart is
totally bogus. It portrays no door knob on Jesus’ side of the door. Jesus is
totally helpless. He must wait for the sinner to open the door from the other
side. If this picture presented the truth as it is, then Jesus would never see
any one saved, and He would never have a bride. Sinners have absolutely no
ability to do the good and open the door. As Jesus said, “No one has the
ability to come to Me, unless it has been granted to
him from the Father” (John 6:65).
Double Jeopardy?
We
need to think through a very serious dilemma that arises in Lucado’s
theology. He suggests the following understanding of what was transpiring on
He
came to take us to heaven. His death was a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus was
our substitute. He paid for our mistakes so we wouldn’t have to . . . . God put
our sin on his Son and punished it there . . . . Jesus receives the blow. Since
Christ is between you and God, you don’t. The sin is punished, but you are
safe, safe in the shadow of the cross (pp.19,34,35).
Remember,
he is addressing these words to everyone without exception. If God did what Lucado says for every person in the world, then why
wouldn’t everyone ultimately be saved? If He paid for our sins so we wouldn’t
have to be punished, then on what basis could God punish people who never
believed in Christ on Judgment Day? If on the cross God punished Christ for the
sins of every person who has ever lived, then how could He punish them again
for their sins at some future point? Wouldn’t that be “double jeopardy,”
punishment for the same crime twice?
In
our legal system, “Double jeopardy” is prohibited by the 5th Amendment to the
Constitution (cf. www.lectlaw.com/def/d075.htm). If it is said, “Well, Christ paid for
everyone’s sins, but if they refuse what He did for them, then God will judge
them on the Last Day,” then that would mean Jesus did not in fact pay for all
sins on the cross. If God punished Christ as a substitute for everyone so that
they wouldn’t be punished, then how can He punish those same sins again at a
future date?
How
can Lucado assert to people indiscriminately, “The
sin is punished, but you are safe, safe in the shadow of the cross” (p. 35),
when John
To
suggest, on the one hand, that the Son of God would take the blow of God’s
wrath for everyone, but, on the other hand, to suggest that He took it not
really, but only provisionally, because if they refuse to accept what He did
for them, then God’s wrath will fall on them on the Last Day, is to make a
mockery of what happened on that cursed tree. Either Christ took the wrath of
God in the place of particular people so they wouldn’t receive it, or He
didn’t. His work cannot be provisional and conditional, that is, He took God’s
wrath for everyone in theory, but if many do not accept His work on their
behalf, then in reality they will receive God’s punishment
Lucado’s view of the atonement goes awry either
direction you go. He wants to maintain that Christ died for everyone, but the
truth is He obtained the guaranteed salvation of no one; yet he also wants to
affirm that He really took the punishment – the blow of God’s wrath -- for
everyone’s sins, but the truth is He must not have really done that because
myriads of people will experience God’s wrath on the day of judgment. A more
Scriptural view would be that Jesus secured the salvation of His people by
purchasing them on the cross, thereby taking the wrath of God upon Himself in
their place – just as the Old Testament animal sacrifice had sin placed on its
head and took the blow of death in the place of the transgressor.
Who Was With Jesus on the Cross?
According
to Scripture, persons (some or all) were co-crucified, co-buried, co-raised,
and co-seated in the heavenlies with Jesus. To put it
bluntly, whoever Jesus died for will also be saved. Indeed, Jesus was a
substitute and ransom for “many” (Isa.53:12; Matt.20:28; Mark
(1)
did He die for all and therefore save everyone, as Universalists teach?
(2)
did He, as Lucado suggests,
die for all without exception, but in reality secured the salvation of no one?
(3)
did He “purchase the
2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some people
regard slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This is probably one of
the most often misused and misquoted verses in the New Testament. I’ve heard so
many people partially quote it as, “God is not willing that any should perish,”
as if that settles the issue. But the context clearly shows that Peter is
contrasting two groups:
(1)
the “beloved” ones mentioned in vv. 1,8,14,17, who are
believers, and
(2)
the scoffers who mockingly ask, “Where is the promise
of His coming?”
The
“longsuffering” mentioned in v. 9 has a specific object, which is captured well
by the KJV, “to us-ward.” Who are the “us”? It is restricted to the “beloved,”
those who are Christians. So Peter is saying, “the
Lord is longsuffering to us who love Christ, not willing that any of us who
will believe should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The “any”
of the oft-quoted phrase, “God is not willing that ‘any’ should perish,” must
have an antecedent. The only possible antecedent is the “us-ward” that
immediately precedes the “any.”
In
v. 16, Peter tells us to “regard the longsuffering of our Lord to be
salvation.” The “longsuffering” of the Lord is not just a wish that hopes
somebody will make the right choice, but it is a powerful aspect of God’s plan
that results in the salvation of His people. To use an out-of-context phrase
from 2 Peter 3:9 to challenge the fact that the Father has given a specific
people to Christ is not a proper way to handle God’s Word.
Scripture Out of Context
I
want to point out two crucial occasions where Lucado
misuses and takes totally out of context verses of Scripture. He speaks to
unbelievers and says, “He has a destiny for your life. ‘For God has destined
us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Thess.
5:9). According to the Bible, God’s destiny for your life is
salvation” (pp. 41, 42).
But
Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 is not speaking to unbelievers. He is speaking to
people who have already believed in the Lord. It is incorrect and misleading to
tell unbelievers that they are not destined for wrath but salvation. In 1 Thess. 5 Paul contrasts those destined for wrath, the
people of darkness, with the sons of light, who are destined for resurrection
life in the last day.
On
pp.49-50, Lucado cites Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in. . .” He directs Jesus’ words to unbelievers, and asks, “Would
you let him save you?” (p. 50). But such a use of Rev. 3:20 is incorrect. In
its context, these words from Christ were spoken to a wayward assembly of
believers in
Summary
Both
the Old and New Testaments teach that Messiah’s work would bring the Lord’s
purpose to fruition, and result in salvation for
It
is a shame that so many well-meaning Bible teachers are presenting such an
anemic, man-centered version of the gospel. To think that Jesus on the cross
embraced every person, yet at the end of the day secured the salvation of no
one is a God-dishonoring view of the atonement. The Scripture views Adam and
Christ as the heads of those they represented. Adam was the head of the human
race, and for that reason his sin was imputed to everyone he represented;
Christ is the head of the church, and for that reason His righteousness is
imputed to everyone He represented. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive. But each in his own order:
Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor.
At
every point in His work Christ represented, stood in the place of, His bride,
the church. He did not die to make salvation a possibility, waiting for the
choice of depraved people to validate His labors. Rather, in His death He
purchased the
Lucado makes it sound like God is bending over
backwards to get every sinner to make the right choice, and get on the gospel
bus. He asserts that God’s “destiny” for all people is salvation. The obvious
truth is, many people fail to reach this end. That
implies that God’s purposes are thwarted and unrealized in untold instances,
notions that cannot be substantiated by God’s Word (Isa.
14:24-27; 43:13; Dan. 4:35). But what about the times in the Bible where it
states that certain people are “destined” to judgment and perdition (Rom.
What
do Bible teachers do with John 12:37-41? “He had performed so many signs before them,
but they were not believing in Him; that the word of Isaiah might be fulfilled,
‘Lord, who has believed our report’. . . . For this reason they could not
believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere, ‘He has blinded their eyes and
deadened their hearts, so they can neither see. . .
nor understand . . . nor turn – and I would heal them.’”
What
about Isaiah 65:1? “I permitted Myself to be sought by those
who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not
seek Me.”
And Romans
I
know I have not covered every possible question that can arise, or every
troublesome Scripture that can be brought forward. But I do believe that I have
presented sufficient Scriptural perspective to raise serious questions about
the accuracy of a common view of Christ’s atonement. The idea that God can try
so hard to win people’s hearts – even sending His only Son to die as a criminal
– but when all is said and done He cannot actually secure the salvation of one
person does no justice to the revealed purpose of God in Scripture.
We
confess, I trust, that the Bible is not a collection
of contradictory statements and perspectives. Harmony was achieved by the
Spirit. Any perceived disharmony arises from our inability to properly handle
the Word of Truth. Of course, there are some texts that on the surface seem at
odds with some of the dimensions I have pointed out. But the texts I have
overviewed are unmistakably clear that God has a purpose in Christ to save a
people from their sins. Is it an equitable use of Scripture to use a few texts
as justification to jettison the main points I have established in the many
texts covered? Ultimately, all texts will be harmonious and complementary to
one another. May the Holy Spirit give us light as we work together and listen
to one another in discerning the mind of Christ in His Word.
Jon
Zens
651-465-6516
Searching
Together,