Christ’s Atonement and God’s Omnipotence

 

This article aims to demonstrate how different views of Christ’s atonement logically affects our view of God’s omnipotence. There are two types of atonement that are commonly held: 1) universal, indefinite, or unlimited atonement, and 2) particular, definite, or limited atonement. The author used to believe the former view for several years while he was still attending an Arminian Charismatic church.

 

Universal atonement states: Christ died for all men without exception (i.e. universally) and paid for all their sins. It is an atonement unlimited in its intent (i.e. God intends to save all without exception including those who are already in the intermediate state or hell) and extent (i.e. God well-meaningly offering His salvific grace to all without exception upon the condition of man’s independent-free-will-activated faith or response to His grace or calling). Christ propitiates for the sins of all men without exception, removing the full curse of the wrath of God from them, and yet some (i.e. reprobate) will still face God’s wrath during the Great White Throne judgement and in the Lake of Fire. If so, then that’s a weak, inefficacious and incomplete propitiation. There is no definite guarantee that those whom Christ died for will be saved. There are some in the minority who take universal atonement to its logical conclusion of universal salvation i.e., everyone without exception will ultimately be saved. But for others in the majority, they do not deny that ultimately only some will be saved though Christ has already paid for the sins of all men without exception.

The universal atonement version of election and reprobation are defined by what God foresees through the window of time what autonomous creatures would do in the future. In other words, God’s foreknowledge of the elect and reprobate does not come from within Him, but comes externally of Him through His empirical observation of the future. He is the elect in God’s eyes only when God has seen his future autonomous, independent decision to accept Him in faith. On the other hand, one is a reprobate only when God has seen his future autonomous, independent decision to reject Him. It is a conditional, non-deterministic election and reprobation, conditioned upon the independent free will of man to choose or reject God. Salvation is dependent upon and finalized by the choice of man and God is just sitting around waiting helplessly. God does not control man’s will to do anything, but man controls himself to choose or reject God. Strangely, many who accept autonomous free will have admitted that they have ever prayed for God to open the hearts of their friends and loved ones that they may be saved. Out of desperation, they leave behind their free will theory.

According to the universal atonement theorist, God does not control man’s will at all and allows man to run independently of Him. God is somehow purposely losing control of man’s will. When man moves to the right and left, it’s by man’s own control alone and not by God’s sovereign exhaustive control. Taken to its logical conclusion, For without Him and by man’s power alone, we live, and move, and have our being (contrary to Acts 17:28). But what saith the Scripture? It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy (Romans 9:16)[1].

 

On the other hand, particular atonement can be summarised as: Christ died only for the elect and paid only for their sins. The elect are particular people chosen unto salvation unconditonally by God from eternity according to His pleasure (elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father – 1 Peter 1:2a). Ephesians 1:4-5 – “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will”.[2] It is an atonement that is limited in its intent (i.e., God intends to save only a certain number of people who are the elect) and extent (i.e. God’s well-meant offer of the Gospel to the elect alone by which He sovereignly enlightens the mind of the elect by His Holy Spirit unto salvation and He sovereignly hardens the hearts of the reprobate unto eternal damnation). Those whom God has unconditionally elected before the foundation of the world will definitely believe according to God’s perfect timing.

There is no denying that the preaching of the Gospel is unlimited and indiscriminate because Christians are commanded to preach Gospel to all without exception, while maintaining that not all are saved because the atonement of Christ is limited in its intent and extent. The preaching of the Gospel acts as two means: to soften the hearts of the elect that they will believe in due time and to harden the hearts of the reprobate that they will not believe. In virtue of our lack of knowledge who the elect and reprobates are, we are to preach indiscriminately. As Charles Spurgeon famously said: “If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around lifting shirts. But since He didn’t, I must preach “whosoever will” and when “whatsoever” believes I know that he is one of the elect.”

 

Limited atonement is the only view that does not contradict nor weaken God’s omnipotence. The relationship between the two is founded upon a presupposition: Whatsoever that God wills and desires to occur according to His absolute free will[3] and sovereign pleasure, it will surely come to fruition without fail. In other words, He cannot be frustrated. If God is frustrated in any way, He is not omnipotent. Let’s consider some biblical verses:

• Job 42:2 - I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 
•  Proverbs 21:30 - There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
• Isaiah 14:27 - For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
• Job 23:13 - But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
• Ecclesiastes 7:13 - Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
• Isaiah 55:11 - So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 

The above verses are a non-exhaustive list of proofs that God’s decretive will cannot be resisted. The theory of universal, unlimited atonement contradicted the above verses: Christ wills and desires for all men without exception to be saved, and He died for all of them and even be a propitiation for them, and yet ultimately only some will be saved, hence God is frustrated because not all are saved. If I will and desire that I get grade A* for my Physics examination, and in the end, I only got grade B, what does that tell of me? It shows that my will and desire is frustrated, and I have failed to achieve what I want. Is that the case for the omnipotent God? Can God fail to save those whom He wills and desires to save? God forbid.

Isaiah 14:27 asks the rhetorical question: who can disannul all that the LORD of hosts have purposed? Based on this verse, if God has purposed for the certain men to be saved and yet they are not saved, it logically means that God’s purpose has been disannulled. The same author makes a resounding statement that whatever God wills to accomplish according to His pleasure, it will surely be accomplished fully and it will not return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:11). Let's apply Isaiah 55:11 to the doctrine of God's saving will and atonement: If Christ wills for person X to be saved and even died for him ("So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth") and yet he is not saved, what kind of accomplishment has Christ achieved? It is a void accomplishment. 

Job 23:13 explicitly states that God will do without fail all that He desires. If God desires for some men to be saved, and yet they are not saved, then God’s desire is frustrated, and He fails to do what He desires. But what saith the Scripture? Job 23:13 “But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.” 

Proverbs 21:30 says no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel can go against the Lord’s decretive will. However, the universal atonement theorists say that Christ died for all men without exception, however some of them (in their worldly wisdom, understanding and counsel) go against God’s decretive will, and Christ’s atonement and propitiation. So, now salvation is up to man and God is just standing by the side waiting helplessly. The theory of universal atonement has made God less than omnipotent and made Him a frustrated and resistible God.

As have been shown above, the theory of universal atonement denies God’s omnipotence and contradicts the above biblical verses.

What does Scripture really say about the atonement? Christ died only for the sheep, or the elect (John 10:15) and they will surely believe according to God’s will and desire (John 6:37-39 ; 10:27). If God wills and desires for both the sheep (elect) and goats (reprobate) to be saved, and Christ died for all of them, and yet only the sheep are saved, what does that tell you of God’s will and desire and the power of His atoning work? A frustrated will and desire, and an inefficacious atonement. The atonement that does not definitely and unconditionally save anyone but only makes salvation possible conditioned upon free-will-empowered faith, is a weak atonement and a low view of God’s sovereignty over man’s will and salvation. That is not fitting of God’s omnipotence. The truth is that God is so omnipotent that what He says He will do, He will surely do it without fail. God’s will cannot be frustrated.[4] Faith is the gift of God, by which He makes us willing to believe in Him without any need of man’s co-operation. Faith is empowered by God alone, not by man’s independent free will.

Christ did not will and desire for the whole world (without exception) to be saved. He only wills and desires for the salvation of those whom the father has given Him before the foundation of the world (John 17:9,20). The High Priestly prayer of Christ in John 17 is the most explicit description of Christ’s eternal plan of salvation for the elect. Christ wills and desires that all the elect may be one in both the father and the Son, even as the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the father (John 17:21). This will and desire of Christ will surely be fulfilled. John 17:9,20 – “I pray for them (the elect Apostles): I pray not for the world, but for them (the elect Apostles) which thou hast given me; for they are thine…. Neither pray I for these alone (the elect Apostles), but for them also which shall believe on me through their word (the rest of the elect)”.

At this point, someone will quote: how about 1 Timothy 2:3-4? “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” In Scripture, the words “all”, “world”, or “any” rarely mean everyone without exception. The words must be interpreted according to the context, and its meaning must logically flow with other doctrines. It has been shown above that the theory of universal atonement is not consistent with God’s omnipotence. Let him read the comments of many great theologians regarding 1 Timothy 2:4 [5]: https://www.cprf.co.uk/quotes/1timothy2v4quotes.html. 

Rev Angus Stewart (whom the author had the privilege of having a face-to-face deep theological conversation with) of Covenant Protestant Reformed Church (CPRC) in Northern Ireland has written an excellent article on the subject: “Does I Timothy 2:3-4 Teach a Desire of God to Save All Men Whoever Lived[6]?” https://cprc.co.uk/articles/1timothy2desireofgodtosave/

 

At this point of time, the moderate Calvinists may mention that God’s will and God’s desire are two different things. They don’t understand that the desire is the activity of the will. John Piper[7] has failed the attempt to reconcile the proposition that what God wills is not always what He desires. If so, God did not have a full pleasure when He decreed everything before the foundation since there are some things which He decrees are not what He desires. It seems that there is something that is forcing God to decree some things that are undesirable to Him. The moderate Calvinists, instead of admitting a contradiction, see that as a paradox i.e., a puzzle which cannot be reconciled with logic. On the other hand, they agree with the biblical law of logic that Scripture cannot contradict Scripture. For more information about the concept of paradox, please read “Robert L. Reymond's Anti-Paradox View on the Nature of Biblical Truth[8]”  https://biblicalogic.blogspot.com/2024/01/robert-l-reymonds-anti-paradox-view-on.html

 

 

 

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[1] Even for some Calvinists, this concept seems foreign to them. I have ever discussed with some friends (from the Presbyterian and Calvinistic circle) while on a holiday about this thing (yes, theology can be discussed anytime and anywhere) and I asked them: “If right now I move from point A to point B, is it by God’s exhaustive control, or totally by my own will alone?” One of them answered: “I don’t think God would have bothered to control such trivial matter.”

[2] Ephesians 1:4-5 explicitly state that election is not based on foreseen faith, but based on the good pleasure of His will.

[3] Only God can have free will. He has a will that is free from any external factors. In other words, He does things according to His pleasure alone. Whereas man’s will is not free from God’s control and causation, though man may be free to do what he wants according to his predetermined nature and inclination.  

[4] God’s decretive will cannot be frustrated though God’s preceptive will (the Ten Commandments) can be disobeyed and resisted. It can be easily reconciled: God decreed that the reprobate will choose not to obey His preceptive will so that His decree of eternal reprobation may be fulfilled. Jesus reveals in John 12:40 the ultimate reason why some people do not believe: “He (God) hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” The Gospel can be a means of God to harden people’s heart as John 12:40 has clearly stated. God’s preceptive will is subservient to God’s decretive will. They are not two wills of God that are paradoxical and contradictory, but two reconcilable aspects of God’s one absolute and undivided will.

[5]  Quotes on I Timothy 2:4 https://www.cprf.co.uk/quotes/1timothy2v4quotes.html

[6] Does I Timothy 2:3-4 Teach a Desire of God to Save All Men Whoever Lived? https://cprc.co.uk/articles/1timothy2desireofgodtosave/

[7] Does God Desire All to Be Saved? John Piper https://www.desiringgod.org/books/does-god-desire-all-to-be-saved. This is one of the first books that I read back in 2014 about limited atonement as a new reformed believer. Back then, I already doubted Piper’s understanding of God’s will and desire.

[8] Robert L. Reymond's Anti-Paradox View on the Nature of Biblical Truth  https://biblicalogic.blogspot.com/2024/01/robert-l-reymonds-anti-paradox-view-on.html