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THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By Arthur W. Pink
Appendix 4
1 JOHN 2:2
There is one passage more than any
other which is appealed to by those who believe in universal redemption, and
which at first sight appears to teach that Christ died for the whole human
race. We have therefore decided to give it a detailed examination and
exposition.
"And He is the propitiation for
our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world" (1 John 2:2). This is the passage which, apparently, most
favors the Arminian view of the Atonement, yet if it be considered
attentively it will be seen that it does so only in appearance, and
not in reality. Below we offer a number of conclusive proofs to show that
this verse does not teach that Christ has propitiated God on behalf
of all the sins of all men.
In the first place, the fact that this
verse opens with "and" necessarily links it with what has gone
before. We, therefore, give a literal word for word translation of 1 John 2
:1 from Bagster’s Interlinear: "Little children my, these things I
write to you, that ye may not sin; and if any one should sin, a Paraclete we
have with the Father, Jesus Christ (the) righteous". It will thus be
seen that the apostle John is here writing to and about the saints of God. His immediate purpose was two-fold: first, to communicate a
message that would keep God’s children from sinning; second, to supply
comfort and assurance to those who might sin, and, in consequence, be cast
down and fearful that the issue would prove fatal. He, therefore, makes
known to them the provision which God has made for just such an emergency.
This we find at the end of verse 1 and throughout verse 2. The ground of
comfort is twofold: let the downcast and repentant believer (1 John
1:9) be assured that, first, he has an "Advocate with the Father";
second, that this Advocate is "the propitiation for our sins". Now believers only may take comfort from this, for they alone have
an "Advocate", for them alone is Christ the propitiation, as is
proven by linking the Propitiation ("and") with "the
Advocate"!
In the second place, if other passages
in the New Testament which speak of "propitiation," be compared
with 1 John 2:2, it will be found that it is strictly limited in its
scope. For example, in Romans 3 :25 we read that God set forth Christ
"a propitiation through faith in His blood". If Christ is a
propitiation "through faith", then He is not a
"propitiation" to those who have no faith! Again, in Hebrews 2:17
we read, "To make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Heb. 2:17, R. V.).
In the third place, who are
meant when John says, "He is the propitiation for our sins"?
We answer, Jewish believers. And a part of the proof on which we base
this assertion we now submit to the careful attention of the reader.
In Galatians 2 :9 we are told
that John, together with James and Cephas, were apostles "unto
the circumcision" (i.e. Israel). In keeping with this, the
Epistle of James is addressed to "the twelve tribes, which are
scattered abroad" (1:1). So, the first Epistle of Peter is
addressed to "the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion" (1
Pet.1:1, R. V.). And John also is writing to saved Israelites, but for saved Jews and saved Gentiles.
Some of the evidences that John is writing to saved Jews are as follows.
(a) In the opening verse he says of
Christ, "Which we have seen with our eyes . . . . and our hands have handled". How impossible it would have been for the
Apostle Paul to have commenced any of his epistles to Gentile saints
with such language!
(b) "Brethren, I write no new
commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the
beginning" (1 John 2 :7). The "beginning" here
referred to is the beginning of the public manifestation of Christ—in
proof compare 1:1; 2:13, etc. Now these believers the apostle tells us, had the "old commandment" from the beginning. This was true
of Jewish believers, but it was not true of Gentile believers.
(c) "I write unto you, fathers,
because ye have known Him from the beginning" (2:13). Here,
again, it is evident that it is Jewish believers that are in view.
(d) "Little children, it is the
last time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now
are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us" (2:18, 19).
These brethren to whom John wrote had "heard" from Christ Himself that Antichrist should come (see
Matt. 24). The "many antichrists" whom John declares "went
out from us" were all Jews, for during the first
century none but a Jew posed as the Messiah. Therefore, when John
says "He is the propitiation for our sins" he can only mean
for the sins of Jewish believers. [1]
In the fourth place, when John added,
"And not for ours only, but also for the whole world", he
signified that Christ was the propitiation for the sins of Gentile believers too, for, as previously shown, "the world" is a term contrasted from Israel. This interpretation is unequivocally established by a
careful comparison of 1 John 2:2 with John 11:51,52, which is a
strictly parallel passage: "And this spake he not of himself: but being
high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;
And not for that nation only, but that also He should gather together in one
the children of God that were scattered abroad". Here Caiaphas, under
inspiration, made known for whom Jesus should "die". Notice
now the correspondency of his prophecy with this declaration of John’s:
1 John 2:2
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John 11:51, 52
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"He is the
propitiation for our (believing Israelites) sins".
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"He prophesied
that Jesus should die for that) nation".
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"And not for
ours only".
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"And not for
that nation only".
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"But also for
the whole world"— That is, Gentile believers scattered
throughout the) earth.
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"He should gather
together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad".
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In the fifth place, the
above interpretation is confirmed by the fact that no other is consistent or
intelligible. If the "whole world" signifies the whole human race,
then the first clause and the "also" in the second clause are
absolutely meaningless. If Christ is the propitiation for everybody, it
would be idle tautology to say, first, "He is the propitiation for our sins and also for everybody". There could be no
"also" if He is the propitiation for the entire human family. Had
the apostle meant to affirm that Christ is a universal propitiation
he had omitted the first clause of verse 2, and simply said, "He is the
propitiation for the sins of the whole world." Confirmatory of
"not for ours (Jewish believers) only, but also for the whole
world"—Gentile believers, too; compare John 10:16; 17:20.
In the sixth place, our
definition of "the whole world" is in perfect accord with other
passages in the New Testament. For example: "Whereof ye heard before in
the word of the truth of the Gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all
the world" (Col. 1:5, 6). Does "all the world"
here mean, absolutely and unqualifiedly, all mankind? Had all the human
family heard the Gospel? No; the apostle’s obvious meaning is that, the
Gospel, instead of being confined to the land of Judea, had gone abroad,
without restraint, into Gentile lands. So in Romans 1:8: "First,
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world". The apostle is here
referring to the faith of these Roman saints being spoken of in a way of commendation. But certainly all mankind did not so speak of their faith! It was the
whole world of believers that he was referring to! In Revelation 12:9
we read of Satan "which deceiveth the whole world". But
again this expression cannot be understood as a universal one, for Matthew
24:24 tells us that Satan does not and cannot "deceive" God’s
elect. Here it is "the whole world" of
unbelievers.
In the seventh place,
to insist that "the whole world" in 1 John 2:2 signifies
the entire human race is to undermine the very foundations of our faith. If
Christ is the propitiation for those that are lost equally as much as for
those that are saved, then what assurance have we that believers too may not
be lost? If Christ is the propitiation for those now in hell, what guarantee
have I that I may not end in hell? The blood-shedding of the incarnate Son
of God is the only thing which can keep any one out of hell, and if many for whom that precious blood made propitiation are now in the awful
place of the damned, then may not that blood prove inefficacious for me!
Away with such a God-dishonoring thought.
However men may quibble
and wrest the Scriptures, one thing is certain: The Atonement is no failure.
God will not allow that precious and costly sacrifice to fail in
accomplishing, completely, that which it was designed to effect. Not a drop
of that holy blood was shed in vain. In the last great Day there shall stand
forth no disappointed and defeated Saviour, but One who "shall see
of the travail of His soul and be satisfied" (Isa.
53:11). These are not our words, but the infallible assertion of Him who
declares, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My
pleasure" (Isa. 64:10). Upon this impregnable rock we take our stand.
Let others rest on the sands of human speculation and twentieth-century
theorizing if they wish. That is their business. But to God they will yet
have to render an account. For our part we had rather be railed at as a
narrow-minded, out-of-date, hyper-Calvinist, than be found repudiating God’s
truth by reducing the Divinely-efficacious atonement to a mere fiction.
ENDNOTES:
[1] It
is true that many things in John’s Epistle apply equally to believing Jews and believing Gentiles. Christ is the Advocate of the one, as much
as of the other. The same may be said of many things in the Epistle of James
which is also a catholic, or general epistle, though expressly addressed to the twelve tribes scattered
abroad.
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