The Blood of the Lamb: Full Atonement
Scripture clearly shows the inability of any person to deliver himself from the guilt of sin and from the consequent sentence of God: death (Rom. 3:10-18). The law of God cannot provide a way of deliverance (Gal. 3:10). There is simply no way to escape the condemnation of the righteous God through our own efforts.
God provided the way out of this horrible situation. He sends His own Son, the second person of the Trinity, into our flesh (Gal. 4:4). Christ provided His life to redeem His people. He bore the curse of God to remove the curse from them (Gal. 3:13).
This payment was full and complete: once made for all of His own (Heb. 10:12). Nothing more need be added to meet the just requirements of the righteous God. Salvation has been merited by Christ’s perfect sacrifice. Neither man’s work nor the intercession of saints or other creatures can add to that which Christ has already accomplished (Heb. 10:14, 18).
This work of Christ was the fulfilment of God’s word spoken in Genesis 3:15. The “seed of the woman” crushed the head of the serpent on the cross. Christ accomplished all of this for His people—not for all people (Matt. 1:21). He would deliver all those “given Him of the Father” (John 6:37). He gives His life for “His sheep” (John 10:11). He did not give His life, then, for those whom He says are “not of my sheep” (John 10:26). Christ unconditionally assures “His sheep” that He gives them eternal life. They shall never perish nor shall any man pluck them out of His hand nor out of the hand of His Father (10:28-29).
We may not, then, tell all who hear, “Christ died for you.” Nor have we the right to say, “God loves all of you.”
This is the great wonder of salvation: that God should deliver poor, miserable sinners, no more deserving than any others, and provide them with forgiveness and adoption unto sons. This is the power of God’s grace which He has shown in Christ’s cross (Eph. 2:8-10). Salvation is of grace—all of grace, grace only to the glory of God’s name. We can never then boast in our works nor claim salvation on the basis of what man does.
Do you know this great Saviour? Do you belong to Him because He has redeemed you of your sins? Then you are blessed indeed. Are you troubled of heart? Are you weary because of your sins? To such Christ says, “Come unto me … and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). With the apostle Paul, we too can state emphatically, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house!” (Acts 16:31). Rev. Hanko
Gathering Jerusalem’s Children: Matthew 23:37
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not” (Matt. 23:37).
By many commentators this verse is interpreted to refer to Jesus’ longing and desire to save all men, and thus is quoted in support of the “well-meant offer of salvation” (i.e., a desire of God to save all men head for head). So a recent writer put it: “How strong was His desire that sinners would be saved! … Ah, what tenderness and how fervent the longing of the Saviour for the salvation of the lost!”
If the writer had meant or said: “How strong was His desire that elect sinners would be saved,” we would have no objection. But his article indicates that this was not the case. He found proof here for a desire on the part of Christ to save all.
It is not possible to interpret these words of Jesus as referring to a “well-meant offer” when this same Jesus said: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Matt. 11:25-26).
The text does not say anything about a desire in Jesus to save all men.
Jesus is pronouncing terrible woes upon apostate Jerusalem which shed the blood of the prophets” (Matt. 23:34-35). And the woe which shall come upon apostate Jerusalem is: “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”
What a helpless Jesus He would be who wanted to save Jerusalem, but found it impossible, and so pronounced judgment upon it!
The text does not say anything like this.
Jesus’ words are directed against Jerusalem, the national capital of Israel, represented in the leaders of the people, the scribes and Pharisees.
He charges them with refusing to allow Jesus to gather Jerusalem’s children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. This is something quite different from a desire of Jesus to gather Jerusalem.
The great sin of the leaders of Israel was not only that they themselves would not come to Christ in faith, but that they did all in their power to prevent Jesus from gathering Jerusalem’s children. This is indeed a terrible sin which is still true of leaders in today’s church world. They themselves will not believe in the Christ of the Scriptures; but they do everything to prevent their people from coming to Christ.
But Christ is not helpless. He gathers Jerusalem’s children in spite of the opposition of Jerusalem’s leaders. He gathers these children after Pentecost when thousands from Jerusalem were brought to faith and repentance (cf. Acts 2:41).
And so terrible judgment came upon Israel. As Calvin says, “The city itself, indeed, over which he had lately wept (Luke 19:41), is still an object of his compassion; but towards the scribes, who were the authors of its destruction, he uses harshness and severity, as they deserved. And yet he does not spare the rest, who were all guilty of approving and partaking of the same crime, but including all in the same condemnation, he inveighs chiefly against the leaders themselves, who were the cause of all the evils.”
And if one consults Calvin’s comments on Matthew 23:37, he will see that Calvin explicitly refutes the “sophists” who use this verse to deny eternal election, or to invent in God two wills—one will to save all, and another will to save only the elect. Calvin even marvels at the stubbornness of those who persist in that interpretation. Prof. Hanko
Go to Church? Why?
I have a small granddaughter that is just old enough to try to find reasons why she need not go to church. Some time ago she claimed she had heard all about sin and about Jesus—so she could stay home while her parents went to church. Another time she claimed sickness—she had the hiccups. When her father noted that he had not heard any hiccups, she responded, “I have the quiet kind.”
Not only children but also adults would find reasons not to gather on the Lord’s Day to worship our God in the singing of His praises and in the hearing of His word proclaimed. Why not stay home and read the Bible itself? Why not study perhaps from some noted commentator? Or even, why not listen to a taped sermon or watch a television evangelist? Besides, the minister perhaps is not even as intelligent as the objector considers himself to be.
Scripture makes abundantly clear that worship on the Sabbath in the gathering of God’s people in church is essential. Jesus Himself regularly worshipped in the synagogue in His day (Luke 4:16). The Bible also warns against the neglect of the Lord’s Day (Heb. 10:25). The apostle Paul likewise reminds the Romans of the need for hearing of the word of God preached, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent …” (Rom. 10:14-15).
There is, however, another point that must be made. It has been said that one should worship God in the “church or synagogue of one’s choice.” Now, that has a nice sound to it—and surely emphasizes the idea of “religious freedom.” But is that what God demands? One is not a “religious bigot” when he insists that God can be worshipped but one way—as He has required in His Word. It is simply not true that we can worship God wherever we wish. We do not choose a place of worship on the basis of its entertainment value. We do not worship in a certain place because the people there are all friendly. We are rather called to worship where God’s name is highly honoured according to His word, the Bible.
What must one look for when seeking a place to worship God properly?
First, there must be above all else the pure preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said that he determined to know nothing among the Corinthians, but Christ crucified (I Cor. 2:2). One must hear concerning the cross of Jesus Christ—how that He died for the sins of His people (Matt. 1:21). One must hear how that Christ fully paid for those sins. He must hear, then, that salvation is fully of grace and not at all of works.
Secondly, one must find such a place where the sacraments are properly administered. Finally, one must attend where Christian discipline is properly administered.
Do you belong to such a church? If not, why not? Rev. Van Baren
