If Christ Died for All Men…

“For the transgression of my people was he stricken.” (Isaiah 53:8)

If the Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood for all alike, if he died to redeem and save all men and some go to hell anyway, what does the blood of Christ have to do with anyone’s salvation? — Absolutely nothing!

      If, as will-worshipping rebels assert, Christ died to save all men and some are not saved, then that blasphemous absurdity must follow that Christ died in vain for some, his blood was a meaningless waste, he suffered and died for nothing, his death really has nothing at all to do with anyone’s salvation! —Horrid blasphemies these are; but they are inescapable conclusions that must be made, if we entertain the notion that Christ died for the multitudes who are in hell. — If Christ died for all men without exception, if he shed his blood to save the entire human race, then the shedding of his blood was an atonement that did not atone, a redemption that did not redeem, a ransom that did not ransom, a deliverance that does not deliver, a sin-offering that does not satisfy, and a propitiation that does not propitiate!

      The precious blood of Christ shed at Calvary, the death he died as the sinner’s Substitute upon the cursed tree was an almighty, effectual atonement for sin (Isaiah 53:9-11; Romans 5:10-11).

      Tell me what you believe about the death of Christ, why he had to die, what he accomplished in his death, what purpose his death served, and I will tell you what you think of Christ. What you believe about the death of Christ reveals whether you are a Christian or a pagan, a believer or an idolater! What do you see in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?

            The cause of our Savior’s death was the love of God for his elect (John 3:16). The reason why Christ had to die was that God might be just in the exercise of mercy and grace to the saving of our souls (Romans 3:24-26). — “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged” (Proverbs 16:6). The purpose served in our Savior’s death was the accomplishment of a work no one else and nothing else could accomplish — The putting away of sin (Hebrews 9:26). All the Jewish sacrifices offered under the law could never put away sin (Hebrews 10:1-9). Man’s obedience to the works of the law can never put away sin (Romans 8:3-4; 9:33-10:4). God himself, who created the world by the word of his mouth, could not put away one sin without the shedding of Christ’s blood (Hebrews 9:22). But Christ, the God-man, put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself (Hebrews 1:3).

      The Book of God declares that the death of Christ was more than an attempt to save. His death upon the cross was the accomplishment of redemption for God’s elect! What did the Lord Jesus Christ actually accomplish by his death upon the cursed tree? The revelation of Holy Scripture is unmistakable. — The Lord Jesus Christ died for and effectually redeemed his people (Hebrews 10:12-14, 17-20; 9:12, 24-26; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 1:7, 9; Isaiah 53:4-6, 8, 10-12).

            Assuming that God is true, and that his Word is true, it is not possible for a man to both believe the testimony of Holy Scripture and believe that Christ shed his blood to redeem all men (John 10:11-16, 26). Blessed be his name forever, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage!

Don Fortner

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