Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Strict Calvinism says that anyone for whom Christ died has to be saved eternally; Christ cannot fail to accomplish all that He set out to do by means of His sacrifice on His cross; therefore Calvinism's only possible conclusion is that He did not die for those who will eventually be lost. He predestined them to be lost. It's a scary doctrine, and there's a lethal logic to it. It's anything but "good news." In fact, it's bad news if you are not among those blessed people in Ephesians one and two who have been given everything wonderful. Many people worry about who they are and whether they're the favored ones!
But what the Bible says is that God has predestined everyone to be saved; when Christ died "for the world," He paid the price for everyone's sin; His "much more abounding grace" extends to everyone. If you're a human being in this world, Christ is already your Savior whose infinite love is to you personally as if you were the only lost soul on earth. You have freedom of choice and you can despise and reject Him, but that doesn't alter the fact that He gave Himself for you and to you.
The Ephesians gospel "Good News" is explained elsewhere in the Bible: We are all born into the world under a blanket of legal condemnation inherited from our sinful head of the human race, Adam.
But thanks to Jesus Christ, we are also born under a legal "blanket" of vindication in Him. He has become our "last Adam," our new Head of the human race. He has been made to be sin for everyone, has taken everyone's full guilt upon Himself, and has died the death that would have come upon us all "in Adam" (Rom. 5:8-18).
That means, God is sincere and honest in His purpose formed "before the foundation of the world" to save eternally every member of the human race. He has stacked the cards against no one. Ephesians one is right on; you don't have to do something to make Jesus become your Friend and Savior--He already is!
We can choose to live under whichever "blanket" we choose. Live "in Christ" (as you already are in a legal sense), and you are enrolled in the school of Christ where the Holy Spirit becomes your Teacher to teach you to deny the clamors of your fallen, sinful nature inherited from Adam. He actually trains you to "live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age" (Titus 2:11, 12). He convicts you of sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:7-11), takes you by the hand and leads you all the way into the New Jerusalem (cf. Isa. 41:13). Don't resist Him any longer!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 17, 2007.
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