Chapter 34. God's Reconciling the World to Himself—Not Every Individual Person, as Proven by Scriptu
particular one of them; He is pleased to express Himself indefinitely, rather than universally.
Chapter 34 God's Reconciling the World to Himself—Not Every Individual Person, as Proven by Scripture, and Three Reasons
To begin, we must clarify what is meant by God reconciling Himself to the world—that is, to mankind or human nature, though not to every individual person within human nature. I will show you this in two parts:
First, that it cannot be meant for every individual person; and secondly, why it is expressed in such broad terms as the world.
First, I will demonstrate that it cannot refer to every individual man or woman in the world. In fact, there is a large portion of the world— so significant a portion that the world may be named from them— whom Christ has rejected and will never reconcile. This is clearly shown in John 17, where Christ says that He does not pray for the world. If Christ did not pray for the world, then He surely did not die for the world. There are some in the world for whom Christ did not even pray. How then could God be reconciling Himself to the world when Christ explicitly states He did not pray for the world? This alone shows that we are not to understand the world as referring to every particular man or woman; there are some in the world whom
God never intended to reconcile to Himself.
1. Additionally, this is clear because if God were reconciling Himself to the entire world, then all would surely believe and be saved. Why? Because Christ would have paid the price for all, and the blood of Christ pardons the sin of unbelief as much as any other sin. If Christ laid down His life for someone, He would have purchased from God the Father the deliverance of that soul from unbelief. Faith is a blessing that comes through Christ, just like any other blessing. I ask you: Is not faith a spiritual blessing like any other grace? Ephesians 1:3 states: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ." Therefore, all spiritual blessings are in Christ, and faith is one of these blessings. Thus, Christ has purchased faith for whomever He died, and they must believe in time. Christ did not leave our salvation to chance, saying, "I will lay down my life, and if people believe, they shall be reconciled." No, Christ laid down
His life to purchase belief as well as eternal life. Therefore, if you believe, know that it is the fruit of Christ's purchase, just as heaven itself is. If God were reconciling Himself to the entire world, then all would believe and become believers. But since this is not the case, it is clear that Christ never intended it. That is the first reason.
2. A second argument is this: If Christ paid the price for the entire world, leaving it up to people to believe or not believe, then the grand workings of God—Election, Redemption, Justification, and Glorification—would depend more on human will than on the work of God. Some would argue, "God indeed has done His part, but it is up to individuals to believe or not." This would mean that all of God's great counsels rest upon man's will.
Surely, this is not the case. Christ did not leave it so; rather,