Chapter 35: Why God's Reconciling to Himself is Expressed in Such a Broad Term as the World—Six Reas
those whom He reconciled to God, He reconciled in such a way that they will believe. This is not true of the entire world.
3. Further, if Christ paid the price for all, leaving it to human free will to believe or not, then Judas would be just as indebted to Christ for salvation as Peter. You might say, "But Judas was never saved; Peter was." According to this logic, however, Christ did as much for Judas as He did for Peter, for He shed His blood for both. The only difference would be that Peter, by his own free will, believed, while Judas did not. In this view, Peter would owe no more gratitude to Christ than Judas. Peter could say,
"Lord, You did no more for me than for Judas. The only difference is that I believed, and he did not. If he had believed, he would have been saved just as I am." This doctrine, which holds that Christ died for all, dishonours the grace of God.
Many further arguments could be made, but because they are less clear for general understanding, I will leave them for now. However,
I will add that the doctrine of universal redemption—teaching that Christ paid the price for all the world and left it to individuals to believe or not—is Arminian doctrine. In contrast, true evangelical doctrine teaches that Christ paid the price for specific individuals, and God determined which particular ones in the world would be reconciled to Him. These individuals will believe and be saved for eternity.
Chapter 35
Why God's Reconciling to Himself is Expressed in Such a Broad Term as the World—Six Reasons for This But you may ask: If it is true that God has made such a distinction, reconciling Himself from all eternity to some and not to all, then why use this phrase? Why does He say that He loved the world and that He was reconciling Himself to the world without any distinction?
Wouldn't it make more sense for God to say that He was reconciling Himself to some in the world, that He loved some in the world, and not the world in general? However, God chose to express it in this more general phrase for these six reasons.
Reason 1:
First, He uses the term the world to exclude angels, who are not properly of this world. However, this reason alone does not fully address why God would choose to say the world rather than specifying this or that man within the world.
Reason 2:
Secondly, another reason is to show the sufficiency of Christ's death and the work of Redemption; there is enough in it to save as many worlds as might exist.
Reason 3:
Thirdly, another reason is to demonstrate that, in the ministry of the Gospel, no one is to be excluded—not even the worst sinners in the world. For this reason, God does not say, in the ministry of the Gospel, that Christ died for this or that particular man or woman, but instead says that He died for the world. This way, He shows that He has not excluded the worst and vilest sinners in the world and that even the most notorious and greatest sinners can come and be reconciled.
If God had expressed it as, "There are some in the world whom I have been reconciling myself to from all eternity," then a sinner might say, "Surely, if there are only some, God never intended me, who have been such a wicked wretch and notorious sinner."
Therefore, God did not phrase it that way but instead chose the most general terms so that no sinner in the world could claim, "Lord, I was excluded." Instead, God ensures that the ministry of His Gospel is expressed in such broad terms that every sinner has the opportunity to come and receive mercy.
Thus, in Mark 16:15, when Christ gives His commission to His disciples to preach, He says, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." That is, preach to mankind, who is a microcosm of every creature. Even to the Gentiles, who had previously been denied the favour of the Gospel as if they were not part of God's creation, this message now extends. If you are a creature, the Gospel is to be preached to you. There is to be a general offer of grace and mercy to every creature throughout the entire world, including the greatest sinners who walk the earth. Both great sinners and small, all are to receive the offer of reconciliation with God.
The ministers of the Gospel are to proclaim, in the name of God, that the Lord offers this mercy and salvation to everyone. This is to be done ministerially to every creature we preach to, not just to the great sinners but also to those in the most humble conditions in the world.
For example, some may say, "If God is to show mercy to some in the world, surely it must be to those who are great and influential, those who can perform great service for Him. What service can God receive from me, a poor creature who spends my days in a dark, small
dwelling and can do no significant work for Him? Will God ever consider me?" Yes, if you are a creature of God and live in this world, you are no more excluded from reconciliation with God than the kings and emperors of the earth. In fact, it may be that God thinks of you in your humble thatched cottage while He passes by the great monarchs of the world.
Therefore, this expression is made so broad that even the poorest people and the greatest sinners may know they are not excluded from the offer of grace in the Gospel. This is the third reason.
Reason 4 A fourth reason why it is expressed in such terms is that, by this, the Lord may show that those who will actually come to be reconciled to Him must do so while they are in this world. The only people capable of reconciliation are those living in the world. If they are not reconciled before they leave this world, they will never be reconciled.
Hence, the phrase "God is reconciling the world to Himself." It is as if He is saying: "If you leave this world without being reconciled to God, you are lost forever." The object of this grace is only those who live in the world. If they pass up this opportunity and are not reconciled to God while here, they will never be reconciled; for God is not reconciling Himself to those who are in Hell—they are no longer part of this world. They were allowed by God's patience to live for a time in the world, and here they filled it with sin as much as they could. Now that they are out of the world, they have moved beyond the reach of God's grace, which will never shine upon them again.
They will never again hear any offer of the Gospel. This is the fourth reason.
Reason 5 A fifth reason is this: God, through this, shows His wonderful love
and free grace to wretched creatures by regarding such vile beings as those who live in the world. What is the world, after all? It is a dunghill of filth, as the Apostle says in 1 John 5:19, "The whole world lies in wickedness." It lies there like a dead dog or carcass in a common sewer, in a ditch, covered in slime and filth. Now, that God should set His heart upon the world—what an infinite and wonderful love and free grace is this! The truth is, before our conversion, we all lie in wickedness, like a dead dog lying in the road, covered in gore and mire. Yet, that the great God of Heaven should send His own
Son into the world to die for such as us; that He should make such a one an heir of Heaven and eternal life; that such a one should become a member of His Son and have everlasting communion with Himself; and that this should be planned by God from all eternity— what an infinite love of God this is! And again, the world lies in wickedness, the world that is so vile and unworthy, and yet the Lord is reconciling the world to Himself. What an infinite and inconceivable free grace of God this is!
Reason 6 The sixth reason is that those who live in the world will, in time, generally come to God and indeed be actually reconciled. Although the world is not currently reconciled to God on a large scale, the Lord has His appointed time when the Jews shall be called, and the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in, at which point we shall better understand the generality of this expression. God has promised that Christ shall possess the farthest reaches of the Earth and that the heirs of the promise shall inherit the world. I understand this literally, as it is stated in Romans 4:13: "For the promise to Abraham and his offspring, that he would be heir of the world, was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith." This promise is yet to be fulfilled in a literal sense. In some spiritual sense, the saints may already be said to be heirs of the world, for, indeed, the right belongs