As well, my experience suggests many are willing to label as heretics anyone holding a view they disagree with, even such men as Benjamin Keach, Andrew Fuller, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Isaac Backus, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Isaac McCoy, John Gano, Hezekiah Smith, Daniel and Abraham Marshall, Dwight L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, D. James Kennedy, Peter and Kenneth Connolly, and Peter Masters. These men include well-known Baptists and profoundly fruitful evangelists who, one would think, put to rest the notion that Calvinism stifles evangelism.
My review of this book’s chapters does not include any advocacy of a position. Instead, it is an effort to overturn the obnoxious ignorance of those opposing a position they have no firsthand knowledge of, who demonstrate not only an absence of intellectual curiosity but also betray a fear that their convictions cannot stand up to facts they are unfamiliar with. I am convinced that if your beliefs result from erroneous conclusions, then your beliefs, however right, are wrong! To be right for the wrong reason is to be wrong! Truth, in both the recipe and the result, sets us free!
This said, let us begin.
The chapter is divided into eleven parts, beginning with an unlabeled introduction and ending with a labeled conclusion.
Introduction – Comprised of two paragraphs, the author embraces Romans 5.8: “Christ died for us,” as a universally held Christian position while touching lightly on various substitution theories. He decries the term limited atonement and favors definite atonement or particular redemption and raises the question, “For whom did Christ die?”
Election and the Atonement – Three paragraphs, while pointing out that both terms have to do with salvation, Second Thessalonians 2.13. Mention is made of comments made by Thomas Watson and Jonathan Edwards, and a sentence in the First London Baptist Confession of 1644. Romans 8.29-30 is also cited.
Atonement for the Elect Bride – Six paragraphs. Ephesians 1 and 5 are referred to as showing the relationship between election, atonement, and salvation. Mention is made of Christ’s general love for all and His particular love for His bride. Hebrew marriage custom is referred to, husbands’ imitation of Christ’s love, as well as John 11.52 and Hebrews 12.5-11 and 2.13-17.
The Shepherd and the Sheep – One paragraph. The Good Shepherd died for His sheep, not for the wolves and goats.
Christ Died for His People – Eight paragraphs. Old and New Testament passages are cited. Mention is made of God’s provision of the Passover lamb for the Israelites, not the Egyptians. Reference is made to verses that indicate those for whom Christ died and those for whom He did not die.
Deliverance from Evil and the Evil One – Three paragraphs. Christ did not die for Satan or the demons. The author asserts the same for the non-elect and points out the eternal destiny of Satan, the demons, and the non-elect is the same.
Effectual Atonement – Eight paragraphs. “What God does, He always does as a Trinity. The Father effectually elected a definite and limited number of sinners, not all. The Holy Spirit effectually draws this same limited number to Christ. It follows that the second person of the blessed Trinity effectually redeemed those same elect and them alone. The father has a general love for all and a special electing love only for the elect. The Spirit gives a general call to all and a special call only to the elect. Christ died in a general way for all men but in a special way for the elect alone.” The author asserts that everyone except strict universalists believe in some limitation of the atonement, differing only in where they place the limitation. Spurgeon summed it up: “I would rather believe in a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it is intended, than a universal atonement that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of man be joined with it.” Loraine Boettner: “The Calvinist limits it quantitatively, but not qualitatively; the Arminian limits it qualitatively, but not quantitatively.”
The Special Intent – Four paragraphs. “The atonement was full payment, not a refundable down payment in part… He won… He did not fail.”
The Double Payment and Triple Option – Four paragraphs. “Two further arguments in favor of particular redemption are related.”
Miscellaneous Proofs – Ten paragraphs. The author reviews a popular argument that he asserts lacks merit. He reviews a less obvious argument. He refers to arguments some Calvinists use. He asserts, “Christ did not die for Judas, who hanged himself and went to Hell before Jesus died.” He quotes Spurgeon: “I thank God I do not believe that I was redeemed in the same way that Judas was, and no more. If so, I shall go to hell as Judas did. General redemption is not worth anything to anybody, for of itself it secures to no one a place in heaven; but the special redemption which does redeem, and redeems man out of the rest of mankind, is the redemption to be prayed for, and for which we shall praise God for ever and ever.”
Conclusion – One paragraph.