Sunday, August 26, 2007

Getting the L out. Part 2


John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ESV

In this section Jesus is contrasting Himself with others who came before Him both sent by Him and those not sent by Him. Today we have under shepherds serving churches. Some are good and others not so good. The good ones we can be thankful for but they do not give their lives for the sheep. Only Jesus does that work.

Those who maintain Limited Atonement will look at the above verse and say Jesus died only for the sheep. But that is not what the scripture says. Jesus is talking about Himself not sinners. Yes He gave His life for the sheep but does not say only the sheep and none else. One has to read that into the section due to the preconceived notion of Jesus dying only for those who would come to faith. It makes sense to say that if Jesus died for all humanity all would be saved. However, that is using human reason to answer the question why are some saved and others not.

All humanity is under the curse of the law and Jesus died for those under the curse. The king of biblical interpretation is scripture interprets scripture.

  John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. ESV

In this verse we see world, or humanity again without exception. So one does not have to spend time thinking about how to tell if he or she is a sheep but rather look to the Crucified, trust His promises, eat His flesh in His Supper and live.

Thanks be to God!

4 comments:

LPC said...

David,

One of the things I am happy with the BoC is what Pr. Todd said, in the BoC we are allowed to read the Bible at face value, we do not have to excuse it or do creative exegesis.

Thanks for the link bro.

LPC

David Cochrane said...

Yes I love reading the bible for all it is worth!

You are welcome about the link. Perhaps the one other person who comes here will visit your blog as well. ; )

elainep said...

haha..you now have 2 visitors..

David Cochrane said...

Wow 100% growth!