Eternal Security, and the Hard Doctrine of Limited Atonement

I have been reading through Ezekiel, albeit slowly - like I said in a previous post, to really ponder it and soak it in. This passage struck me: Ezekiel 18:30-32: "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live." This makes me think of Hebrews 12:1: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..." It is clear that each person 1) has sin 2) needs to recognize that fact and its consequences, and 3) must then repent (necessitating a change of direction) and finally 4) turn toward God. How gracious God is! And how strong is His desire that we all may see life!

I have also been working my way through The Sovereignty of God by AW Pink. I say "working my way through" because it really does require effort, focus and reflection for me to feel like I've given it my best effort! The chapter I'm reading currently is entitled "The Sovereignty of God in Salvation". It's been gnawing at me for quite a while, but this chapter hit on the head an issue I've been considering off and on for a while. I'm talking about the issue and theological doctrine of limited atonement. The basic idea is that Jesus' subsequent death and resurrection, thereby nullifying sin's penalty of death only applies to those whom God has already predestined to become saved. This would of course except all those who are not predestined by Him to be saved, and so it follows that Jesus' sacrifice was therefore limited in its scope. Not limited in power, for our Lord has infinite omnipotence, but limited only in the people it affects. For reasons only our Father knows, He has chosen, before time began, to save some through His great grace and mercy. This of course means that there are some who will not be saved. Without going into great detail, it would be hard to convince those who are solidly on the other side of the fence, i.e. those who believe that Jesus for all men's sins. However, one point I will make is that if Jesus did die for all mankind's sins, and all of mankind is not saved, then that would lead one to believe that Jesus' power of substituting Himself for our sake was limited and not all-encompassing, infinite. I will concede that there are a lot of holes in my arguments (I have left out the supporting Scripture references, obviously), but these are some of the main ideas and concepts that I picked up from Pink's book, which is quite compelling (and convincing, I might add). Grace to you as you consider these issues!

Some related links:
"Limited Atonement"
"For Whom Did Christ Die?"
Articles on Definite Atonement

My Prophetic Antecedent, Zeke

I've been reading through Ezekiel the past week and a half. Trying to soak it in and be sensitive to the imagery and allusion, especially of the descriptions of the creatures he saw in his vision: "As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies." Ezekiel 1:4-11. My good friend Paul Pavlik showed me a website that links to art relating to either Biblical themes or contents, Biblical Art. There was a link to an image that was pretty striking, as seen above, of the vision of Ezekiel. See what you think.