Good Friday is Really Good... For Some!

Good Friday: Really Good... For Some!

Read Romans 6:1-11

Last Sunday I preached on the atonement and I made the statement that the atonement was not universal. Gasp…. In fact, that is a very controversial assertion. There are many godly Christians with whom I regard as friends and co-labourers for the gospel who believe that the atonement covers the sins of every single person. So I think I have a responsibility to back up my claim. Fortunately for you, I will not do that today.

But let me just back up and expound on my position. First of all, I believe that the Bible teaches that, although the death of Jesus is sufficient enough to atone for the sins of all of humanity, the only way to receive that salvation is by repenting of our sin which held Christ to the cross and then by believing in the free gift of salvation that was bought at the cross. Nevertheless, I also believe that all people benfit; that is every individual red, yellow, black, white, man, woman, child, scholar or simpleton, righteous and wicked, tall and short, country or rocker, does benefit from what Christ achieved at the cross.
I. How is the Atonement not for All:
1. Atoned for sin
First let’s look at how Jesus’ death is only for his church. For one thing, his death was a sacrifice for sin on our behalf. Look at 6:6, “…our old man was crucified with [Jesus], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
I don’t think anyone would say that unbelievers were united with Christ at the cross. But some would argue that Jesus paid the price atoning for the sins of every individual person- believer or not.

By dying for sins, which were the result of breaking the Law, it means that Jesus atonement has fulfilled the whole Law; and the believer, in being united with Christ in his atoning death can be said to have fulfilled the Law also. That’s why the Bible says that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:4 says that because of the cross, “the righteous requirement of the law [are] fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

This means that because of the atoning death of Jesus, we are justified; we cannot be punished for sins for which Jesus has already died. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8:13). Unbelievers are never described as justified- they are however described as Law breakers who are dead in their sin. They cannot possibly have benefited from Jesus atoning death and still be dead in sin.

The thing that justifies us is not our belief; its Jesus’ death and resurrection. Likewise, the thing that condemns an unbeliever is not their unbelief, but their sin.
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it… And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. …And the dead were judged according to their works [i.e. their sins]… (Rev 20:11-15).

Romans also adds,
[God] “will render to each one according to his deeds” …to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth… indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; (Rom 2:6, 8-9).

If the only sin that remains to be judged is unbelief, because all the sins of humanity were purged on the cross, then Hitler (who was responsible for the death of millions of Jews as well as the millions of civilians and soldiers who died in WWII) will suffer the same punishment as a pacificist who would not even step on an ant.

II. How do all Benefit from the Atonement

So how do unbelievers who reject the gospel and ultimately suffer eternity in hell benefit from the atonement? It’s called common or general grace. It began in the garden after Adam and Eve fell; God offered a sacrifice and clothed Adam and Eve. That sacrifice did nothing to atone for their sins, but it foreshadowed the cross and as a result, it delayed the punishment that sin deserved. God could have wiped out humanity before it even started.

The atonement means that judgment is delayed. God causes the rain to fall on the righteous as well as the unrighteous. He allows unbelievers to enjoy goodness, pleasure, peace, love, joy, charity, family and so on. No one deserves those things, but God gives it to all (in varying degrees). Jesus explained why in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares: Read Matthew 13:24-30.

The presence of believers means the preservation of unbelievers.
One final way in which unbelievers benefit from the atonement is that, as long as the Day of the Lord tarries, the offer of Salvation is still available to them.

Every year we celebrate Good Friday we remember that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world. That means that one more year has passed without the judgment coming on those who reject Jesus. But that judgment is coming. In the mean time, we who have died with Christ preserve those who reject him. We still have time to tell them that Jesus death can also benefit them if they repent and believe in Jesus Christ and unite themselves to his atoning death through saving faith.