Did Jesus Christ Die for Your Sin of Unbelief?
Some maintain that God loves everyone and that Christ died for all the sins of everyone. They also maintain, however, that every man, as a condition to be saved by Christ, must choose of his or her own free will to generate faith in Christ.
It is true, the Gospel call goes out through the preaching of men, sent by God (Rom 10:14–17). Through these men of God, the Holy Spirit proclaims the Word, calling all men everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel (Acts 17:30). It is also true that the promise of salvation is for those who believe (Jn 3:16).
Faith, then is essential to salvation, and unbelief is sin. Of course, there are far more people in the world, who do not believe in Jesus, than those who do. How is it possible for the unbelieving masses of humanity to perish (Jn 3:16), since Christ apparently died for all their sins…including unbelief?
The conclusion that must be drawn is that Christ paid for everyone’s sin of unbelief (the sin that denies them eternal life), but Christ failed to save them because they are not saved. Is then Christ Jesus a failure at being Savior?
To reconcile this apparent failure, and still maintain their claim that Christ died for everyone’s sins, including unbelief, they must back up and say, “Well, Christ’s death was sufficient for everyone, but He only made salvation a possibility, with the conjoining condition, that when the Gospel is offered to everyone, each one must seek after God’s offer and take the leap of faith to secure salvation. When someone does this, he joins in the work of salvation with God as his co-pilot.”
The challenge of this position is to reconcile it to the Bible. Remembering our key question, “Did Christ die for your sin of unbelief?” means we must take a different view than the one stated above, which we find inconsistent and rather blasphemous.
First, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). The sin of unbelief is man’s natural position. His nature is sin, and his practice is only evil all the time (Gen 6:5). What is required of every person, in order to be saved? Faith.
Second, faith is granted by God (Phil 1:29), in the measure of His choosing for each believer (Rom 12:3), as He authors that person’s faith (Heb 12:2). It is a gift of His grace (Eph 2:8–9). It is the evidence of God’s Holy Spirit, causing one to be born of God (1 Pet 1:3; Jn 3:1–8). It results in justification, which is God’s declaration of “not guilty” for the guilty sinner (Rom 5:1; 8:1). This is possible only because Jesus Christ died in the place of the believer, paying her entire debt of sin (Col 2:14). Jesus Christ actually redeemed her soul, and then He gave her faith to believe in His finished work on the cross, on her behalf.
Unbelief can only be remedied by faith, given by the Savior. He is never offering faith to men; rather, He is indwelling them with it (Rom 8:9, 11). It is His irresistible grace that overcomes sin’s resistance. God wills for some to believe in Christ. This is called, “sovereign election,” later executed by “sovereign grace.”
God set His love upon His chosen (elect) people in eternity past (Eph 1:4–5). He gave each one of them to Christ (Jn 6:37; 17:2, 6, 24), who came into the world to save them, as a demonstration of His love for them (Rom 5:8; Eph 5:25). The Holy Spirit made Christ known to each one of God’s chosen. He removed the hard heart of stone (unbelief), and He put in each one, a pliable heart of flesh (belief), and He caused each to walk in His ways (Ezek 36:26–27).
Did Christ die for your sin of unbelief? Indeed, He removed the unbelief and granted faith for each one of God’s beloved children (Jn 1:12–13; 1 Jn 3:1), who walk in the Spirit and by faith (Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16, 25; 2 Cor 5:7).
As for those who continue on in unbelief to the end of their days, they do so because the Holy Spirit has never come upon them and opened their hearts to respond to the Gospel (Acts 16:14). It is also because Christ did not die for any of their sins, and this was because God the Father never set His electing love upon them (Eph 1:4–5); but rather, He made them to be vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22). They did not belong to Christ (1 Jn 3:23) which is why they never trusted in Him (Jn 10:26).
Thus, we have deduced that the answer to our question, “Did Jesus Christ Die for Your Sin of Unbelief?” is: “Yes,” for those God chose, Christ died for, and the Spirit has baptized; and “No,” for those God reprobated, Christ did not die for, and whom the Spirit has never entered.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 11, 2021
