Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · Jesus Christ
John says Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world, and he uses the word world elsewhere for humanity in its rebellion against God. So the phrase reaches past the church and past Israel to the widest possible reach of people. Scripture holds two things without embarrassment: the sacrifice is worth more than every person who has ever lived and is offered to every person, and it certainly saves the people it was given to save.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/what-does-the-whole-world-mean · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
1 John 2:1-11
As you read: John's purpose in writing, and the scope he gives the sacrifice: for our sins, and not for ours only.
1My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
2And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
3This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
4One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.
5But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him:
6he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.
7Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
8Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines.
9He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now.
10He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.
11But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
John 11:45-53
As you read: Caiaphas prophesies without knowing it: one man dies for the nation, and not for that nation only.
45Therefore many of the Jews, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him.
46But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done.
47The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs.
48If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
49But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,
50nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
51Now he didn’t say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
53So from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death.
John 3:14-21
As you read: The most famous sentence in the Bible, and the verse that says the Son was sent so that the world should be saved.
14As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
17For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
18He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
19This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
20For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.
21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
1 Timothy 2:1-7
As you read: Paul grounds prayer for all people in God's desire that all be saved and in the ransom given for all.
1I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men:
2for kings and all who are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence.
3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
4who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.
5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6who gave himself as a ransom for all; the testimony in its own times;
7to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Romans 5:12-21
As you read: Two Adams, two acts, and two outcomes: condemnation reaching all, and justification offered to all.
12Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.
13For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law.
14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.
15But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
16The gift is not as through one who sinned: for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification.
17For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.
18So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.
19For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
20The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
21that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The sentence is built to widen as it goes: 'And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.' John writes it to comfort anxious believers, and he reaches past the church to say what the sacrifice is worth and whom it is held out to. The same author records the same widening from Caiaphas, the high priest who condemned Jesus: he 'prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.' The scope of the sacrifice is not a doctrinal afterthought in this letter; it is the ground of the assurance John is giving.
“And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.”1 John 2:2
“My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.”1 John 2:1
“Now he didn’t say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”John 11:51-52
In John's letters, the world is not the church and not Israel; it is the fallen human order in its hostility to God. 'We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.' 'They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world.' John tells his readers, 'Don't be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.' He warns them, 'Don't love the world, neither the things that are in the world,' and describes it as 'the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.' So when John says the sacrifice reaches the whole world, he is not quietly meaning a subset of believers. He is naming the very world that hates God and lies under the evil one, the widest reach of humanity there is, and saying the sacrifice is for that.
“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”1 John 5:19
“They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.”1 John 4:5
“Don’t be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.”1 John 3:13
“Don’t love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.”1 John 2:15-17
Paul tells Timothy to pray for all men and gives the reason: God 'desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth,' and there is 'one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.' He says the grace of God 'has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,' and calls God 'the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.' Hebrews says Jesus was crowned with glory and honor 'that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.' Paul's summary of the two Adams has the same shape: as one trespass led to condemnation for all, so one act of righteousness leads toward justification for all. Read together, these texts will not let us shrink the sacrifice into a private transaction for a nameless few.
“who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all; the testimony in its own times;”1 Timothy 2:4-6
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,”Titus 2:11
“For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we have set our trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.”1 Timothy 4:10
“But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.”Hebrews 2:9
“So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.”Romans 5:18
The Bible is just as definite in the other direction. Jesus says, 'I lay down my life for the sheep,' and tells others plainly, 'you don't believe, because you are not of my sheep.' On the night before He died He prays for those the Father gave Him, and says, 'I don't pray for the world.' The angel's announcement is not conditional: 'it is he who shall save his people from their sins.' Paul tells the Ephesian elders to shepherd 'the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood,' and Hebrews says He was 'offered once to bear the sins of many.' If the first set of texts shows how wide the sacrifice reaches, this set shows that it certainly accomplishes what it was given to accomplish. Scripture will not let us drop either set.
“even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.”John 10:15
“But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.”John 10:26
“I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”John 17:9
“She shall give birth to a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.””Matthew 1:21
“Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.”Acts 20:28
“so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.”Hebrews 9:28
“who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.”Titus 2:14
Christians have read these texts in two ways, and it is worth saying so plainly. Some conclude that the breadth of the all texts means Christ's death accomplished salvation for every person without exception, and that the whole difference lies in whether a person believes. Others conclude that those texts declare the worth of the sacrifice and the freeness of the offer, while the death actually secures and keeps the people it was given to save. We take the second, for three reasons. First, the texts themselves: John can say the sacrifice is for the whole world, and in the same letter can say that those who are born of God are kept and that Jesus prays for the ones the Father gave Him. Second, breadth language in Scripture usually means all without distinction rather than all without exception, the same way the gospel goes to all nations and John sees a multitude out of every tribe, language, people, and nation. Third, the alternative leaves the same sins paid for twice, once at the cross and again in judgment. But notice what both readings affirm, which is the part that matters to you: the offer is genuine, and nobody is barred from it by a hidden list.
“And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.”1 John 2:2
“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold.I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.”John 10:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”John 3:16
“They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,”Revelation 5:9
“The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,”Acts 17:30
“All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.”John 6:37
The scope of the atonement was never given to us as a ledger to inspect; it was given as a door to walk through. 'For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. For, whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.' Paul's conclusion from the whole argument is an entreaty, not a classification: 'We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.' If you are asking whether the sacrifice is enough for you and whether it is held out to you, the answer Scripture gives is not a doctrine about lists but a person to come to. 'He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.' And the last page of the Bible says, 'He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.'
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.””Romans 10:12-13
“We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”2 Corinthians 5:20
“All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.”John 6:37
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.”Revelation 22:17
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”1 John 1:9