Jesus Christ
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11. Did Jesus Christ die only for some men or for all men? |
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Jesus
Christ died for all men, for the apostle Paul says: “For there is one God,
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself
a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a
preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity” (1 Timothy 2:5-7), and also: “Therefore
as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so
by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification
of life” (Romans 5:18). |
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The
apostle John confirms what Paul says, saying that Jesus Christ “is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of
the whole world” (1 John 2:2). |
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At this
point, however, I have to say that even though Christ died for all, only some
people will benefit from His atoning sacrifice, who are those who were predestined
to be justified and glorified. Therefore, these passages: “Therefore will I
divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered
with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12), “And he said unto them, This is my
blood of the new testament, which is shed for many” (Mark 14:24), and some
other biblical passages alike – which seem to say that Jesus died only for
some – actually mean that only a certain number of human beings will benefit
from the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. Therefore, the sacrifice of Christ is
able to blot out the sins of all men, but only the sins of some will be
blotted out by His blood. |