Answering an Arminian on Christ’s Redemption of His Beloved Church
A while back, a reader in Georgia asked me to address and answer an Arminian, Dr. Curtis Hutson, on the “Five Points of Calvinism,” of which Hutson disagrees with all five. Today, we will address point three: limited atonement (particular redemption).
(http://www.victorybaptistmg.org/Why%20I%20Disagree%20With%20All%205%20Points%20of%20Calvinism.pdf)
Jesus came into the world to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). He laid down His life for His sheep (Jn 10:11, 15). Jesus gave Himself up unto death for the benefit of His body, the bride of Christ (Eph 5:23, 25). He purchased the church of God with His precious blood (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 1:19). He gave His life, a ransom for many (Mt 20:28). He released His church, Christians, from our sins (Eph 1:7; Rev 1:5). Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24). Thus, redemption is for those positioned as justified sinners…in Christ (Rom 3:24).
By God’s grace, people from the whole world — from every nation, tribe, and tongue — are observed by the Apostle John, worshiping God and the Lamb upon the throne (Rev 5:9). Every man for whom Christ died is saved by God (Titus 3:5), in an act of mercy (Rom 9:15–16) and grace (Eph 2:8–9), so that not one of them is lost, stolen, or separated from the love of Christ (Jn 10:28–29; Rom 8:31–39). The Bible teaches us a sure salvation, because it is all of God (Ps3:8; Jon 2:9; Rev 19:1),from eternal election through to glorification of the saint (Rom 8:30), who will always be with their Lord, throughout eternity (1 Thess 4:17).
Curtis Huston employs the typical Bible verses, in an attempt to render Jesus Christ and His redemptive works, a mere “possibility (Hutson’s word)”. This possible salvation is universal, but Jesus is 100% inefficient in saving anyone. Hutson states this openly. In this, all Arminians are guilty of replacing God in Christ as the Savior, with sinful men, who themselves judge Christ and the merits of His redemptive work, by their free will acceptance or rejection. Who made man the judge of God? Arminians did.
Hutson adds nothing new to the discussion. He employs verses traditionally misinterpreted to argue for universal redemption (1 Jn 2:2; 4:14; Jn 3:16; 4:42; 1 Tim 2:5–6; Rom 8:32). There are a few words that invariably lure Arminians away from the truth of exclusive election, redemption, and regeneration. These words are: all, every, and world. Hutson highlights them all. He does not work, at all, to explain the different uses of “world,” or that “all” can mean all in quantity or all of a kind.
Instead of acknowledging that exclusivity and inclusivity, in salvation, cannot co-exist, Arminians opt for universalism up to a point. In order to strip God of His eternal will (Jn 1:13; Eph 1:11; Rom 8:28) and gracious choice of a remnant people (Rom 11:5), the Arminian takes the unconditional, eternal covenant of grace and turns it into a conditional, temporary covenant of works. Man must do something.
Hutson writes some blasphemous statements in this section of his article, “Jesus wants to be the Savior of all men.” Thus, to Hutson, Jesus is a wannabe Savior. This demonstrates his low view of God. The Arminian god needs men to validate him by their sovereign, free will choice. He is not the God of the Bible, however.
Not only did Jesus die for all men, according to Hutson, “He suffered Hell for every man who has ever lived or ever will live.” It is remarkable that Jesus would pay the entire debt of sin, for the whole world, and then suffer the punishment of hell, for every man, and then fail to save even one of them! Still, Hutson claims, “Nothing could be plainer than the fact that Jesus dies for every man.” And Hutson adds, “And no man will look out of Hell and say, ‘I wanted to be saved, but Jesus did not die for me.’”
Hence, we continue to point readers to the Arminian-over-elevation of man’s will and ability. Arminians simply do not believe the natural man is dead in his trespasses and sins (1 Cor 2:14; Eph 2:1). It is not man’s will to be saved (Jn 1:12; Rom 9:16), nor is it in his ability to comply with what is required of him (Rom 8:7). Even faith in Christ eludes men, until faith is granted to them by the indwelling Spirit (Gal 3:22; Phil 1:29; Rom 8:9, 11).
Where the Arminian separates himself from full universalism (God loves everyone; Jesus died for everyone; everyone is saved) is not here in atonement. Therefore, Hutson presses and presses universalism here. Words have meaning, and they have a context, too. In Bible interpretation they must be defined correctly and correlate with sound doctrine. The Bible is consistent. If Christ clearly died for His church, specifically (see my particular redemption paragraph at the beginning), then, is the whole world the church and every man a Christian?
To facilitate universal redemption, the Arminian must place the focus on man. In particular, the contrast between believers and unbelievers because this is where Arminians turn limited and particular. How do you go from universalism to Arminianism? You take salvation away from God and give it to man, and then you must claim that God is the One who gave the work of salvation to man. This is simply false.
Hutson quotes Isaiah 53:6 to argue that all the sins of all the people in the world were laid on Christ. Would this have been the prophet Isaiah’s interpretation of Israel and all nations? Surely not, for he knew how God dealt differently with Israel than all the other nations. In the New Testament, with the Gentile inclusion in the church, the Israel of God, the exclusivity remains, though we see God’s holy nation much broader than one ethnic group.
In conclusion, Christ did die for every man, that is, all His people from the whole world. Every single one of them enjoys a blessed assurance of God’s eternal election and Christ’s effectual redemption because each one of them has received the token application of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5).
Gone is the uncertainty of the “possible” salvation, from a deficient savior, who could not finish his work and who subjected himself to the whimsical judgment of his enemies, who hate him (Rom 1:30; Jn 7:7; 15:18–25). This lame Jesus made a ransom for all, tasted death for every man, and who endured hell for all people, is restricted by Arminians to inviting everyone to a party, which He hopes people will come to.
In Huston’s concluding words, “Everybody is potentially saved, but everybody is not actually saved…” Jesus came up short, so each man must now claim for himself, following his free will decision to accept Christ, “It is finished…by my choice.” This is why Arminianism is blasphemy and a heresy.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
November 18, 2022
