Particular Redemption: One of the greatest corruptions of the gospel in our generation is the widespread teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood equally for every individual of the human race, yet that multitudes for whom He died shall nevertheless perish forever under the wrath of God. This doctrine is repeated so commonly throughout modern religion that it is scarcely questioned anymore.
This is the teaching of Billy Graham, Rome, and the vast majority of modern evangelical religion – that Christ has done all He can do for every individual alike, and now waits upon the sinner to activate, complete, or accept what the cross supposedly provided. But such a message leaves the decisive matter of salvation resting not in the accomplishment of Christ, but in the will of man. It is salvation by human response disguised beneath Christian language, and so despite all their outward differences they all unite around this fatal principle: that the cross of Christ, by itself, did not actually secure the salvation of those for whom He died, but merely offers men the opportunity to save themselves.
Anyone in the least acquainted with the malady of sin, and the insurmountable gulf that exists between God and man, will readily see that such teaching strips away all true hope and utterly destroys the gospel itself. For if salvation ultimately depends upon something performed by the sinner, then no man can be saved. Romans 9:16. The natural man does not possess within himself the ability to complete what Christ merely began. Yet this is precisely where all universal atonement systems ultimately lead – a christ who attempts to save while the decisive matter rests upon the will and cooperation of natural man. Thus the creature is subtly exalted into the very place belonging to God alone. II Thessalonians 2:4.
But such teaching is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a corruption of the very heart of Christianity. Scripture does not present the death of the Son of God as a frustrated attempt to save men who may yet perish despite His sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world with purpose, certainty, and accomplishment bound up in His very name. Matthew 1:21. The cross was not a general offer extended toward all alike, but the actual accomplishment of redemption by the incarnate Son of God for those given Him by the Father before the foundation of the world. John 17:2. To deny this is not simply doctrinal confusion, but a direct assault upon the power, triumph, and sufficiency of Christ crucified.
I want to speak plainly here, because this issue is too weighty to approach timidly. There are many who profess Christianity who seem to regard the doctrine of particular redemption as little more than a theological debate among religious men. For them it’s just one of the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Others hear the cross preached as a universal attempt to save all men alike and scarcely seem troubled by it. But how can this not matter? Your entire hope before God rests upon this very question if indeed you are a believer. We are not speaking about some minor point of doctrine, but about whether salvation rests entirely upon Christ alone or ultimately upon man.
Everything hangs upon whether the Lord Jesus Christ truly put away sin, satisfied divine justice, and secured eternal redemption for His people by His own blood. Hebrews 10:14. If Christ did not actually redeem His people by His sacrifice, then the sinner has no salvation at all, but merely a religious system which throws men back upon themselves. Therefore I would strongly suggest that this is not merely an “important” doctrine, but the most important truth you will ever confront, because this is the very gospel of Jesus Christ.
And honestly, I find it difficult to understand how someone can sit comfortably week after week under preaching which reduces the cross to a mere opportunity rather than a finished redemption yet remain content because the church appears sound in other areas. Men may appreciate the atmosphere, the fellowship, the traditional worship, the conservative appearance, or even the use of the King James Bible, but if Christ crucified is not being proclaimed as the effectual and successful Savior of His people, then the very foundation has already been corrupted. I Corinthians 1:18. Better no religious assembly at all than one which continually diminishes the glory, efficacy, and triumph of Christ’s finished work.
The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save His people from their sins, and He accomplished exactly what He came to do. Matthew 1:21. One message exalts the triumphant Son of God and His finished work. The other exalts man. Anything less than the effectual redemption accomplished by Christ crucified is not the gospel of God, but a corruption of the cross itself. Run from every system that turns your eyes away from the finished work of Christ and back upon yourself. Flee from it as you would flee from death itself, because a false gospel can leave a man religious, sincere, and utterly lost. MPJ
PostScript: I hear you brother. We are not talking about a mere doctrinal disagreement among Christians, because we are talking about the very nature of salvation itself and what Christ actually accomplished at the cross. There may still be kindness, friendship, and outward respect between people, but true spiritual fellowship is impossible when the foundation itself is understood so differently. At some point you realize the two messages are pointing sinners in very different directions.