HOW ARE THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST'S ATONEMENT AQUIRED?

Here is the outline of a Sunday School lesson I taught yesterday. It was originally part of a MidWeek series at Park Cities Presbyterian Church called 12 Questions that Shaped Church History: A Survey of the History of Christian Doctrine. I taught the course with my friend Jared Nelson.

How are the benefits of Christ’s atonement acquired?
The Doctrine of Salvation and the Arminian Controversy

I lay down my life for the sheep (John 10:15).

Introduction

During the Reformation (16th century) as Protestants and Roman Catholics settled into their respective understandings three distinct ecclesiastical traditions emerged on the European continent: Roman Catholicism (sourced in the Council of Trent), Lutheranism (sourced in the teachings of Martin Luther), and Calvinism (sourced in the teachings of John Calvin). Among the Calvinist (i.e. Reformed) churches, a new movement began known as Reformed orthodoxy in which Reformed pastors and theologians during the two centuries following the Reformation (1520-1725) further developed their theology and worship by producing confessions of faith, catechisms, liturgies, and systematic theologies. Men like Calvin’s successor Theodore Beza (1519-1605) and Francis Turretin (1623-1687) are two notables of the era. The systematic theology of the period emphasized the doctrines of divine sovereignty, omnicausality, and predestination. Soon these doctrines were challenged by a Dutch Reformed theologian named Jacob Arminius (1560-1609). Arminius began to teach in contradiction to the Belgic Confession on the doctrine of divine election, namely that divine election was unconditional. Instead, he taught conditional election and gained a significant following known as the Remonstrants who, after his death, lodged a formal disagreement with the Dutch Reformed church. That formal complaint is known as the Five Articles of the Remonstrants, sometimes referred to as the Remonstrance (1610).

The Arminian Remonstrance (1610)

Summarizing the five articles in turn:

1. Divine election is conditioned on the foreseen faithful endurance of sinners. This is sometimes referred to as the doctrine of conditional election.
2. The atonement of Jesus Christ is universal and potential, its benefits being acquired by faith.
3. Saving grace is necessary and primary in salvation.
4. Saving grace is resistible. It must be cooperated with in order to be effective unto salvation, but it can be resisted.
5. True believers might ultimately be able to fall away from the state of saving grace.
   

Eight years later a Synod of the Dutch Reformed church was convened in the city of Dordrecht in order to evaluate and respond to the Remonstrance. It condemned Arminianism as heresy and issued the Canons of Dordt in reply.

The Canons of Dordt (1618/19)

Summarizing the canons in turn:

1. Because of original sin, particularly the inherited or imputed guilt from Adam, all are justly condemnable. Therefore, if God were not to save any, he would be perfectly good and righteous in doing so. But God, in love, has chosen to save some, and his choice is necessarily unconditional (i.e. unconditional election). Those not elected to salvation are passed by (i.e. reprobation).
2. Christ’s death has infinite value, but its benefits are applied to the elect alone by God alone. The atonement of Jesus Christ actually secured the redemption of a definite people, his elect.
3. Human corruption is total (i.e. total depravity => total inability). God converts sinners by effectually calling (i.e. regenerating) them.
4. Those God converts will, by his grace, persevere in the faith until the end.
   

Competing Theories on Acquiring Atonement Benefits

We are really asking two questions this class. They are the questions on which the Calvinist/Arminian discussion turns:

1. How are the benefits of Christ’s atonement acquired?
2. For whom did Christ die?
   

Both questions get at the root of biblical soteriology. The first is framed in terms of the human reception of salvation. The second is framed in terms of the divine intention in salvation. Both address the fundamental meaning of the Cross of Christ. Let’s examine three major post-reformation traditions with respect to this issue:

Roman Catholicism

1. How are the benefits of Christ’s atonement acquired?
1. Synergistic- Both God and the sinner are ultimate causes of salvation. God is an ultimate cause in that he makes salvation possible. The sinner is an ultimate cause in that his decision, uncaused by God, makes salvation actual.
2. Definite- The full benefits of Christ’s atonement are acquired by a definite people, the church magisterium, as a treasury of merit.
3. Potential- Acquiring the full benefits of Christ’s atonement from the church magisterium is possible for all. In other words, Christ died to secure the possibility of everyone’s salvation.
2. For whom did Christ die?
1. Universal- Christ died for all humanity in the sense that acquiring the full benefits of his death is possible for every individual human being.
   

Arminianism

1. How are the benefits of Christ’s atonement acquired?
1. Synergistic- Both God and the sinner are ultimate causes of salvation. God is an ultimate cause in that he makes salvation possible. The sinner is an ultimate cause in that his decision, uncaused by God, makes salvation actual.
   
2. Indefinite- A part of the benefits of the atonement, a prevenient grace, is given to all indefinitely so that all who hear the gospel are morally able to respond.
3. Potential- Acquiring the full benefits of Christ’s atonement is possible for all. In other words, Christ died to secure the possibility of everyone’s salvation.
2. For whom did Christ die?
1. Universal- Christ died for all humanity in the sense that part of the benefit of his death is given to all and acquiring the full benefits is possible for every individual human being.

Calvinism (Biblical orthodoxy) :-)

1. How are the benefits of Christ’s atonement acquired?
1. Monergistic- God alone is the ultimate cause of salvation.
2. Definite- The full benefits of Christ’s atonement are acquired by a definite people, the elect.
3. Actual- The work of atonement accomplished in Christ’s death was actual. In other words, Christ died to actually secure the salvation of his elect.
2. For whom did Christ die?
1. Limited- Christ died for his elect alone.
   

Here's a summary chart:

Final Thoughts

Perhaps the best work on this subject was written in the 16th century by the English Puritan John Owen (for some good thoughts on Owen's works see this new site). Owen’s book is entitled The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. J.I. Packer writes in the introduction to a modern reprint of that work (more here):

The true evangelical evaluation of the claim that Christ died for every man, even those who perish, comes through at point after point in Owen’s book. So far from magnifying the love and grace of God, this claim dishonours both it and him, for it reduces God’s love to an impotent wish and turns the whole economy of “saving” grace, so called (“saving” is really a misnomer on this view), into a monumental divine failure. Also, so far from magnifying the merit and worth of Christ’s death, it cheapens it, for it makes Christ die in vain. Lastly, so far from affording faith additional encouragement, it destroys the Scriptural ground of assurance altogether, for it denies that the knowledge that Christ died for me (or did or does anything else for me) is a sufficient ground for inferring my eternal salvation; my salvation, on this view, depends not on what Christ did for me, but on what I subsequently do for myself (p. 12).

I think Packer is right. The debate over this issue is not secondary or impractical; it is fundamental and imminently practical. It is fundamental because the cross-work of Christ is the centerpiece of history. It is the apex of God’s work of redemption. As such, it is the heartbeat of divine revelation. It is imminently practical because the person and work of Jesus Christ, of which the cross is the center, is the sure foundation of the church's faith and assurance. It is our only comfort and boast in the world; it is precious to us. As our own confession affirms:

To all those for whom Christ has purchased redemption, He does certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same; making intercession for them, and revealing unto them, in and by the word, the mysteries of salvation; effectually persuading them by His Spirit to believe and obey, and governing their hearts by His word and Spirit; overcoming all their enemies by His almighty power and wisdom, in such manner, and ways, as are most consonant to His wonderful and unsearchable dispensation. (Westminster Confession of Faith 8.8)