So Loved

By
Jason Robertson
Posted in: Limited Atonement

For God so loved the world…

  • God’s love must have an object, and the object in John 3:16 is the world.
  • The term so means, “in such manner.”

Thus, God loved the world in one of two “manners”:

  1. either He did something that actually accomplished nothing for the objects of His love.
  2. or He did something that actually accomplished something for the objects of His love.

The proponents of Particular Redemption say that God loved the elect of the world in such a manner that by grace alone He made salvation a guarantee. They believe that the man chosen by God who is spiritually dead is regenerated by the power of God and given the gift of faith and repentance so that he is saved. His faith is in the finished work of Calvary where Jesus died as his actual substitute.

The proponents of Universal Atonement say that God loved the world in such a manner that He only made salvation possible if the people of the world will do something. What is that something? They believe that a man who is spiritually dead must somehow have faith in Christ so that he may be saved. His faith is in the general work of Calvary that was not even sure to be effective until the man actually believed even though he was spiritually dead. But if a man does not believe, then Jesus either died for him in vain or Jesus was not actually substituting for him on the cross.

Of course, if you believe that Jesus was not actually substituting for him on the cross then you are a proponent of Particular Redemption.

So which do you believe:

  • in a universal atonement gamble that empowers man to choose God by his free will even though it is dead to God in its depravity,
  • or in a particular redemption guarantee that actually purchases the elect and effectuates their salvation by grace through the gift of faith at regeneration.
Guard that which has been entrusted to us.

About the Author

Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers. Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University. You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.