Well, the Apostle Paul says that Christ died for all people, even the non-elect. And of course, that raises some very delicate questions for us Calvinists to answer. So how does Christ's atoning sacrifice apply to the non-elect? Question is from an anonymous listener to the podcast who writes in to ask this.

"Hello, Pastor John. Many times I have heard people say, 'Yes, Christ died for all people, but not all people in the same way.'" I know Reformed theology teaches that Christ's atonement is particular in that the extent of the atonement to save souls is limited to the elect only. However, I am having trouble adequately explaining how Christ died for all people, but not all people in the same way.

For what tangible reason did Christ die for the non-elect? Let's start with 1 Timothy 4.10, which captures the "both/and." Goes like this, "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hopes set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." Savior of all, especially of those who believe.

Or as Paul says in Titus 2.11, "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people." And he would add, "Especially, especially those who believe." He brought salvation for all, especially for those who believe. Or we can see the "both/and" in the Gospel of John. Start with John 3.16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3.16.

So Christ came as an expression of God's love for the world. Verse 17, "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." So the offering of his Son is the offering of salvation to the world. Now we'll come back to this in just a moment to answer the question, "For what tangible reason did Christ die for the non-elect?" But first, we need to see the other side of the coin in the Gospel of John besides saving the whole world.

I am the Good Shepherd. This is chapter 10, verse 14. I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep, the ones who know me, the ones that the Father's given me.

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. Those are the elect scattered throughout the world. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice. That's what marks them out as sheep. I go out, I preach, I call, and the sheep, the ones whom the Father has, who gives to me, they recognize my voice, they come to me, so there will be one flock and one shepherd.

So the Father has the sheep, he gives the sheep to Jesus, they are his own, they know his voice, he calls them, they come, he lays down his life for them, uniquely for them. Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 5.25, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." A husband loves his wife uniquely and in a special way, and that's the way Christ loves the church and dies for the church in a unique way.

Now, what's the effect of this focused, particular redemption for the bride, the sheep, the elect? What does the death do that's unique for the bride? I think Romans 8.32 gives the answer. "He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all." Now, pause. "Us all," in the context of Romans 8.32, is clearly the elect.

It's not the whole world, it's the elect. He did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. You can see it in the next verse. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? And that's how verse 32 is being fulfilled.

And you can see it in the rest of this verse. So let me start over and read the rest of the verse. "He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" In other words, the death of Christ for his people secures and guarantees for them every saving blessing that there is.

Will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Yes, he will, because that is what the death of Christ guarantees for all the elect. If God gave his son in this same way for every person on the planet, then that promise would attach to every person, because it's attached to the blood of Jesus, to the sacrifice of Jesus, and that means every person would be saved, would be guaranteed every possible blessing, which Paul says clearly is not the case.

Second Thessalonians 1.9. So what can we say about how the death of Christ expresses itself for the elect and the non-elect who reject him? How is it different? For the elect, the blood of Jesus is the blood of the new covenant, which purchases for them a new heart, new life, faith, and obedience.

Jesus says that in Luke 22.20, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." So the blood of Jesus is purchasing the new covenant, and the new covenant is not an offer of salvation, it's an accomplishment of salvation in the hearts of God's people. He gives them a new heart and a new spirit, a gift of life, gift of faith, gift of obedience.

Now back to John 3.16 for the other side of how the death of Christ relates to the world or to the non-elect. I think the wording of John 3.16 provides the answer how to speak of the gift of Christ, the death of Christ, for the non-elect, the whole world.

Here's how he puts it, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." He loved the world so that everyone who believes would have life. So the way to speak about the giving of the Son as an expression of love to the world is to highlight the word "so that." So that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

That's the connection we make between the death of Christ and every person on this planet. Christ accomplished a completely full and satisfactory and effective redemption for whosoever believes. You may look everyone in the eye, absolutely everyone in your neighborhood, at your church, at your work. You can look everyone in the eye, and you should look everyone in the eye and say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will never perish.

Believe on him. You will become a full and complete participant in the perfect salvation, the perfect payment for sins, the perfect propitiation of the wrath of God, the perfect obedience for imputation, the perfect deliverance from death and hell and Satan and into the everlasting glory of God. All of that is yours.

It's yours for the believing because of Jesus' death." We could never talk like that to people. We don't know who the non-elect are, so let's just assume there's lots of them that are listening. We could never talk like that to the non-elect if Jesus hadn't died the way he did.

That is a great and awesome gift that we are indebted to give to the entire world. Oh, that God would put fire in our hearts to take that message to the ends of the earth. Amen. What a glorious gospel meant for the free proclamation to all people in our families, neighborhoods, communities, all the peoples around the globe.

Pastor John, thank you for this reminder. Thanks for listening and for supporting this podcast. You can subscribe to our audio feeds and search our past episodes in our archive and send us an email of your own, even questions related to Reformed theology and Calvinism and how the implications of it all shake out.

You can do all that through our online home at DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn. Well a tablecloth full of animals descended from heaven before the eyes of Peter and from that moment no animal is now unclean. And since that precious incident in Redemptive History, the kitchen doors have flung wide open to all kinds of delicious dishes like lobster and coconut shrimp and bluefin tuna sushi and bacon wrapped everything and juicy porterhouse steaks and bacon wrapped juicy porterhouse steaks and on and on and on it goes.

But there's still a lingering question over whether veganism more closely maps on to God's original dietary design. Hmm. It's a good question and it's the question on Friday. I'm your host Tony Reinke. We'll see you Friday to talk food. Duration: 5 minutes 33 seconds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10