​

Footnote #4:  The VERY PARTICULAR Atonement of "His Sheep"

​

​

Most (or all) denominations, churches and preachers have a very generalized abstract concept about the Lord's Atonement.

Most (or all) do not understand (1) the duration or (2) the nature or (3) the extent of the very particular Atonement Christ PAID

to save each of "His Sheep".  As a result, they cannot appreciate the magnificence of the event.

​

​

(1)  The Duration of the Atonement

​

 

Most people think the duration of the Atonement was the time Christ spent on the Cross.  They talk about the "blood of Christ" paying

for their sins.  Other people have a little more understanding, and think of the duration of Christ's Atonement being from the Cross until

His Resurrection on Sunday morning.  But the Bible teaches the Atonement consists of "three days and three nights".  The crucifixion of

Christ on Friday and Resurrection early Sunday would account for three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) but for only TWO nights,

(Friday night and Saturday night).

​

 

Mat 12:40    For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights

                    in the heart of the earth.

 

 

Understanding more about the NATURE of the Atonement provides insight about the DURATION of the Atonement.  When a man sins,

the penalty for that sin is an eternity of torment in the "Lake of Fire" (which we will call "Hell").  If a man was to commit only ONE sin

during his lifetime, he would have to SUFFER, in Hell, for an eternity - before he would have PAID for that one sin.

 

 

For the Lord Jesus Christ to PAY for that one sin, He would have to SUFFER the equivalent of spending an eternity in Hell, which only He could do because He never ceased from being God.  So, the Atonement to PAY for one sin consisted of "three days and three nights"

of SUFFERING in the "heart of the earth" (in Hell).  Therefore, we know the DURATION of the Atonement was not limited to the time

Christ was on the Cross, or the time from the Cross to His Resurrection.  Instead, the Atonement of "His sheep" began before His arrest,

in the Garden of Gethsemane.  That's when the "cup" of God's Wrath first caused His suffering... that's when His "agony" first started...

and that's when the Atonement for "His sheep" began.

​

​

Luk 22:42   Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done. 43  And there

                    appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  44  And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly:

                    and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 
 

 

The language of Luke 22:42 shows us the "agony" of Christ as God's "cup" of Wrath was being poured upon Him so that His sweat was

as "great drops of BLOOD falling down to the ground".  The significance of this language speaks for itself.  Moreover, this shows the

actual historical fulfillment of Jesus being "three days and three nights" in the heart of the earth (Hell).  The Atonement actually BEGAN

in the garden of Gethsemane on Thursday night, and ENDED with His Resurrection on Sunday morning (three days and three nights). So

we now see harmony of all related Scriptures - along with confirmation in history ("reality").  So we know we have found Biblical Truth.

​

 

(2)  The Nature of the Atonement

​

 

Most people think of the nature of the Atonement being Christ's death on the Cross - or His death on the Cross and His Resurrection.

As we have just seen, the duration of the Atonement began on Thursday evening and the NATURE of the Atonement was SUFFERING.

Christ had to SUFFER the equivalent of spending an eternity in Hell for EACH of the sins He was PAYING, otherwise that sinners debt

would not be PAID.

​

​

The Bible tells us the RESULT of sin (the wages of sin) is death... and that's not talking of the physical death, but the SECOND DEATH.

The Bible tells us our sins include all our unrighteous deeds, every idle word spoken [Mat 12:36] and even all our sinful thoughts [Mat 5:28].

The Bible tells us the NATURE of men PAYING for their own sins involves "weeping" and "wailing" and "gnashing of teeth" as some men are beaten with more "stripes", and other men are beaten with less "stripes" [Luk 12:47-48].  And the DURATION is all of eternity.

The nature of the Atonement was that Christ took all of the stripes for "His sheep". Christ PAID for all of the sins of "His sheep".

"There is therefore now NO condemnation for them who are in Christ Jesus" [Rom 8:1].

​

​

Isa 53:5     But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;

                  and with his stripes we are healed.  6  All we like sheep [His sheep, not Satan's goats] have gone astray; we have turned

                  every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. [all of His sheep]

​

​

1Pe 2:24    Who His own self bare our [the saints] sins in His own body on the tree, that we [the saints], being dead to sins,

                  should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye [the saints] were healed. 

​

​

The nature of Christ's Atonement was that He PAID the price for each and every sin (no more - and no less) of each of "His sheep".

He SUFFERED the equivalent of spending an eternity in Hell for every sin of His sheep, because that was the requirement for any sin

to be PAID.  The Lord Jesus Christ could accomplish this monumental feat ONLY because He never ceased to be God.  If the nature of

the Atonement was anything LESS, then Hell would be full of God's elect suffering for the sins Christ did not PAY of them, and that is

just a Biblical impossibility.

​

​

(3)  The EXTENT of the Atonement

​

​

Knowing the penalty for each and every sin requires an eternity of SUFFERING, we can now better appreciate the extent of the Lord's 

SUFFERING in order to PAY for the sins of each (and every one) of "His Sheep".  Let's say one of Christ's sheep died after committing only 100 sins.  That means Christ had to SUFFER the equivalent of an eternity in Hell for EACH of those sins, in order to PAY for that sheep to be saved.  Christ could not have suffered for 99 of those 100 sins - or else that sheep would spend eternity in Hell suffering for the single sin that was not covered by the Lord.  On the other hand, Christ would never suffer for MORE sins than that sheep committed.  That is a very particular Atonement.

​

​

Let's say an elderly elect died after committing 100,000 sins.  That means Christ had to SUFFER the equivalent of an eternity in hell

for each and every one of those sins.  He could not PAY for LESS sins than the man committed, but He certainly would never SUFFER

for MORE sins than that saint committed.  Again, we see there was a very particular Atonement for each of His sheep, since each sheep

committed a different amount of sins - and deserved a different amount of "stripes"... that needed to be covered by the Lord's Atonement.

​

​

And, so it is with EACH and EVERY person God elected to save before the foundation of the world.  Christ had to SUFFER to PAY

for all of the sins committed by "His sheep"... every thought, word and deed. But He did not SUFFER for sins they never committed.

​

 

There's a heresy in the church today that says Christ's PAYMENT (suffering) was "sufficient" for every man every born, but "efficient"

for only those who become saved (His sheep).  This heresy has Christ suffering for the "stripes" of men NEVER MEANT to be saved.

Read Footnote #3, in Chapter 3, to see the extent of those who were NEVER MEANT to be saved.

 

 

Let's TEST that theory against Scripture:

​

​

For those living in the (1st) Pre-Flood "Kingdom of Heaven", Christ would have had to SUFFER to PAY for each and every sin

of all those unrighteous people who were destroyed by the Flood - instead of only PAYING for the sins of Noah and his family.

This is an insane theory that has absolutely ZERO Biblical support.

​

​

For men living in the (2nd) Jewish "Kingdom of Heaven", Christ did not SUFFER to PAY for the sins of all the non-Jews who were NEVER MEANT to be saved throughout the Old Testament Kingdom - since no sin must be paid TWICE and those men will be paying for their own sins.  Moreover, Jesus taught many Jews were never meant to "see" or "hear" or "understand", lest they be "converted" and their sins be "forgiven" [Mk 4:11-12].  Clearly, Christ did not SUFFER to PAY for the sins of men NEVER MEANT to be forgiven, and men destined to pay for their own sins - again, no sin need be paid TWICE. 

​

​

For men living in the (3rd) Christian "Kingdom of Heaven", Christ did not SUFFER to PAY for the sins of non-Christians who were

NEVER MEANT to be saved.  Including; all Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, Pagans and Satanists.

No sin must be paid TWICE and all those people will be paying for their own sins.  Moreover, Jesus taught [Mat 13] the Christian Church

consists of relatively few saved "wheat/sheep" sown by God and destined to eternal life, and many unsaved "tares/goats" sown by Satan

and destined to the SAME FIRE prepared for Satan and his demons [Mat 25:41].  Since no sin need be paid TWICE, we can be certain that

Christ did not SUFFER to PAY for the sins of the "children of Satan", who were NEVER MEANT to be saved.

​

​

For men in the (4th) Great Tribulation "Kingdom of Heaven", Christ did not SUFFER to PAY for the sins of the "Foolish Virgins",

who were NEVER MEANT to be saved, as they followed the "False Prophet" (Anti-Christ), comprising the Revelation "Beast" and

were destined to be "cast alive into the Lake of Fire" [Rev 19:20].

 

 

Even a cursory examination of the doctrine that Christ's Atonement was "sufficient" for all - shows it contradicts Scripture in EACH

of the four (4) temporal "Kingdoms of Heaven" on earth before the Lord Returns to establish the (5th) Eternal "Kingdom of Heaven".

The ONLY way such a doctrine could find Biblical support is if there were Scriptures teaching that (a) sins must be paid TWICE or

(b) Christ's Atonement did not REALLY PAY for sins, it was just a contingency payment or "promissory note" for men that actually

become "indwelt" with the Holy Spirit.  Of course, the Bible contains no such teachings.  It is a man-made heresy that does not hold

to the nature or extent of Christ's Atonement for all of "His sheep".

​