The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-17, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  Copyright John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

Could you please explain Biblically for whom Christ died? And also, whether all of them that He died for will be saved?

Answer

The answer is, in terms of Scripture, is that Christ died for the world--the Scripture talks about the world.  But I think that the way you have to define that is to define it as humanity--human kind.  The question is, "Whose sins, within humanity, did He actually atone for?"  Right?  "Whose sins did He actually pay the price for?" "Whose sins did He actually expiate?"  "Whose punishment did he actually bear, and thus eliminate them from ever being judged?"  And the answer is, "Only those who believe."  

So Christ actually paid the penalty; suffered the wrath of God; expiated sin, and was a perfect and satisfactory atonement for the sins of all of who would ever believe.  Some people want to say that He actually paid the penalty for the sins of all who ever lived.  We have some problems with that. We have a number of passages in the New Testament that indicate that He died for His own, He purchased His own, with His own blood He purchased the Church.  Those kinds of statements, I think, take the humanity, or the world and narrow it down more specifically to who it is, it is referring to.  So in the end, if He died and paid the actual penalty for the sins of all people who ever lived, then Hell would be double jeopardy.  Then how could you send people to Hell when their sins have been paid for?  So you can't really have a complete expiation of the sins of everybody, or you are going to end up as a Universalist.  So in reality Christ actually expiated the sins of those who believe. 

Now in the end, of course, as you study the elective and unfolding purposes of the decree of God, it is clear that those who believe, believe because they were chosen before the foundation of the world.  Their names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life and the Spirit of God came and regenerated them by the sovereign purposes of God.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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