When one begins with a faulty premise, a faulty conclusion assuredly lies ahead. Two of the most atrocious tenets of Calvinism is its adamant denial that God desires everyone to be saved. This horrific picture of God is the result of a misunderstanding of Divine sovereignty and the nature of man. Thus, with a faulty foundation comes numerous faulty conclusions.
In the early portion of today’s text, we see two statements concerning God our Savior and Christ Jesus with respect to the salvation of men through the sacrifice of Jesus. First, we see that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (v 4). Second, we see that Jesus “gave Himself a ransom for all” (v 6).
Not only are these passages clear and unequivocal, they also accord with the remainder of the New Testament testimony. For example, regarding God’s desire for all men to be saved, Peter penned the following, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9).
That Jesus came to die for the sins of all men is also confirmed in the following: “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lk 19:10). John wrote the following of Jesus, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2). Finally, we would be remiss to omit “The Golden Text” of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
It is simply unfathomable to know that untold millions have been deceived into believing that the God of Heaven, the God who makes His sun shine on the evil and the good, who sends rain on the just and unjust, did not send His Son to die for the sins of all men. Accordingly, they must also affirm that His will is for most men to be consigned to eternal damnation.
If Calvinism is true, then atheism is just in calling God a moral monster. But God is good, ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all who call on Him (Ps 86:5).
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