Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ²⁴  And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

 ²⁵  “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

 ²⁶  After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”  Mark 14:22-26.    

What was actually accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross, by His blood of the covenant? 

Did such blood only serve as an option of salvation that men can accept or refuse by their alleged “free will”? 

Or, did it accomplish more? 

Let us look at The Canons of Dordt, Article 8 of the “SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby”.

Article 8.  “For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation:  that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby he confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation, and given to him by the Father;  that he should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, he purchased for them by his death; should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever.”  (Emphasis added.) 

God’s sovereign and saving actions to fully save His elect extend from “Unconditional Election’, the “U” of “TULIP” through “Limited Atonement“, which is this blood of the covenant and the “L” of “TULIP” through “Irresistible Grace“, the “I” of “TULIP” through “Perseverance of the Saints” better described as “Preservation of the Saints“, the “P” of “TULIP”.  No wonder we love “TULIP” so much!   

^“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  Romans 8:29-30.

Thus, as stated above in Article 8,  “the most precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect” but “only” to the elect, and is therefore “limited” in that sense.  But, it is “unlimited” in the sense that it accomplishes much more than only presenting an option of salvation that men can accept or refuse by their alleged “free will”.  This blood “effectively redeems” the elect and “purchases” faith and “all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit” such that it “purges them from all sin” and “faithfully preserves them even to the end” and “brings them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever”.

I think the following “bridge” analogy is helpful to consider this third point of “Limited Atonement”.  Think of a wide bridge available for everybody, but the wide bridge only goes half-way over hell.  In comparison, think of a narrow bridge only available to the elect, but the narrow bridge goes all the way over hell to safety and salvation.     

Arminianism believes that God loves everyone, Christ died for everyone, and God wants to save everyone, and thus, this plan of salvation is comparable to a wide bridge available for everyone.  The only difference between the unsaved and saved is that some take what I will call “a leap of faith” from that wide bridge of universal atonement (which wide bridge illustrates that Christ died for everyone). Arminians believe that everyone has an equal opportunity to be saved (at least in comparable situations), but that Christ’s death saved no one;  Christ’s death only provided the opportunity and option to be saved.  Only those who exercise their “free will” and take the leap of faith (to the other side of safety and salvation as the illustration) will be saved. Thus, the bridge is wide, but it only goes halfway across hell.

In contrast, Calvinism believes that God only loves His elect and only wants to save them. Christ died only for the elect, and God does everything necessary for the salvation of His elect. In comparison to the wide bridge of Arminianism, Calvinism is the narrow bridge because salvation is only available for the elect.  But, but unlike Arminianism’s wide bridge which only goes half-way across hell, Calvinism’s narrow bridge completely crosses over to the other side of safety and salvation because God provides all that is necessary for salvation, and God handles all the points of salvation.

Because Man is so totally depraved (first point of Calvinism) that he is “dead” in sin, hostile to God, cannot please God, cannot understand the things of God, and is in bondage to sin and Satan, God must make His elect “born again” or “alive” or “draw” them to Christ, or else no one would believe and be saved. God does everything for the elect, including giving them faith, sanctifying them, and preserving them to salvation, so that all the elect will be saved. See the golden chain of salvation in Romans 8:29-30.

Arminianism rests on “the wisdom of man” while Calvinism rests on “the power of God”.  Is it true faith to believe that salvation is dependent on man’s choice – “the wisdom of man”?  Certainly, Arminianism is more attractive and wise and just to our natural human mind to believe that everyone has an equal opportunity to be saved and to believe in free will and to believe in sufficient goodness in man and to believe that salvation is ultimately controlled by us as to whether or not we will choose Christ and be saved.  However, our faith should not rest on the wisdom of men (Arminianism) but on power of God (Calvinism).  See I Corinthians 2: 5.