Today’s devotion is a special devotion for Good Friday on what was accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross.
Did Christ’s death on the cross provide only an opportunity for everyone to be saved dependent on man’s choice?
Or, did Christ’s death on the cross save all of God’s elect, but only God’s elect, and provide all that they need for salvation including justifying faith and all the other saving gifts?
Consider the following from the Canons of Dordt in the section titled 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.
In Christ’s intercessory prayer in John 17:9, we see Christ praying for only those whom God gave Him, not for the world: “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine;”
Christ only laid down His life for His sheep. Christ did not lay down His life for every sheep. “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ” John 10:14-15.
Salvation is not dependent on our sinful flesh, neither by our works nor by our wisdom nor even by as little as our will. Christ’s death did not just possibly took away our sins depending on our alleged wisdom and free-will to choose Christ.
“For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” Romans 9:15-16.
“… He chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” Ephesians 1:4-7.
“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” 1 Corinthians 1:22-31.
“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.
Christ’s blood is indeed powerful to save! Christ’s blood accomplished all of God’s “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”. Canons of Dordt as stated above.
“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14.
There is a severe warning for those who do not have such a high regard of Christ’s blood!
“How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said: “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:29-31.
There are those who do not have such a high regard of Christ’s blood. In sharp contrast, they have a higher regard for their own works or at least their own will to secure their own salvation. They have a higher regard for their own alleged free-will than for God’s will.
They claim that it is up to man to generate his own faith through his own free will in order to make Christ’s blood effective to save. They claim that the only difference between the saved and the unsaved is not Christ’s blood, because everyone gets the blood, but rather the only difference is whether or not a certain individual will generate his own faith through his own free will to make the blood effective. According to their logic, man’s faith, not Christ’s blood, is the determining factor as to whether or not one will be saved.
Because they talk about the blood all the time, it is true that in a sense they are trampling it, not in the sense of being hateful to it but in the sense of treating it as ineffective by itself, like the description in Matthew 5: 13: “… if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
This Hebrews 10:26-31 Scripture does not apply to the person who steadfastly rejects Christ. That person did not receive the knowledge of truth as stated in Hebrews 10:26. That person is not sanctified, so to speak, as is stated in Hebrews 10:29. That person does not talk about the blood of Christ.
Rather, this Hebrews 10:26-31 Scripture speaks about those received or were exposed to knowledge of the truth and were sanctified so to speak but nevertheless denied the power of the blood. They treat Christ’s blood as ineffective by itself, that it does not actually “save”, “purchase”, nor “redeem” anyone, because it is up to man to generate his own faith through his own free will in order to make Christ’s blood effective to save.
Consider such a hope based on man’s works or man’s will.
What does Scripture state about such a hope based on man’s works or man’s will?
“10 as it is written,
“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” Romans 3:10-12.
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Ephesians 2:1-3.
In summary, we were “dead” in sin. Ephesians 2:1-4. We were hostile to God. Romans 8:7 and Colossians 1:21. We were in bondage to sin. Romans 7:14-15. We did not understand. We did not seek God. We did not do good. Romans 3:11-12.
How can we provide what is necessary for salvation with such “Total Depravity”?!
But, there are those who trust themselves to do so.
“Thus says the LORD,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 “For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.” Jeremiah 17:5-6.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9.
What does Canons of Dordt in the section titled THIRD AND FOURTH HEADS OF DOCTRINE Of the Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God, and the Manner Thereof state about such a hope based on man’s works or man’s will?
Article 3. Therefore all men are conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, incapable of saving good, prone to evil, dead in sin, and in bondage thereto, and without the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, they are neither able nor willing to return to God, to reform the depravity of their nature, nor to dispose themselves to reformation.
Consider what was accomplished by Christ’s death on a cross with the following two analogies of a husband’s love for his wife and the process of redemption.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:25-27.
Christ’s love is a specific love only for His church (God’s elect). Just as a husband does not love and give himself up for all women, but only for his own wife, Christ only loved the church (God’s elect), and Christ only gave Himself up for His church (God’s elect), not for everyone in the world.
Consider the process of redemption.
Redemption is always for specific objects that we own, never for everything. When we redeem something from the pawn shop, we do not redeem everything in the store, but we only redeem our own specific items that we own and left at the pawn shop as collateral for a loan.
Consider that the Canons of Dordt in the section titled SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby expressly rejected the errors of those who teach that Christ died for everyone, but not for any specific individual by name, leaving it up to each individual to secure (or not secure) salvation on their own by their own works or by their own will.
The true doctrine having been explained, the Synod rejects the errors of those:
I. Who teach: That God the Father has ordained his Son to the death of the cross without a certain and definite decree to save any, so that the necessity, profitableness and worth of what Christ merited by his death might have existed, and might remain in all its parts complete, perfect and intact, even if the merited redemption had never in fact been applied to any person. For this doctrine tends to the despising of the wisdom of the Father and of the merits of Jesus Christ, and is contrary to Scripture. For thus saith our Savior: “I lay down my life for the sheep, and I know them,” John 10:15,27. And the prophet Isaiah saith concerning the Savior: “When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand,” Isaiah 53:10. …
Consider that the following words of the Apostle Paul was more consistent with the high and true view that Christ’s death accomplished and provided all that we, God’s elect, need for salvation!
“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-4.
In final summary, in the above language of the Canons of Dordt, “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”.
How precious is the fact that Christ’s death redeemed us by name!
“But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!” Isaiah 43:1.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 