#75-G21 ~ Galatians 1:4 completed
We begin our study by discussing WHO Christ died for. Did Christ die only for those who believe in Him? That’s the question. There are many who believe Christ only died for those who choose to believe in Him. But John 3:16 speaks of God’s love for the whole world of mankind. The fact is that God through Jesus Christ has done a tremendous work for ALL mankind is made plain throughout the Scriptures. All man’s sins were addressed at the cross of Christ. We’ll look at some passages in this study that address that.
II Peter 3:9-10 is the first passage we address. There we are told that God is not “willing” that any should parish. The Greek word for willing here is THELO. It means desire or wish. In other words, God has done a work because He desires or wants all to be saved. However, to get in on the blessing of this, God’s offer of salvation through Christ must be accepted. I then get into I Timothy 2:4-6 where we are told that Christ did a work for ALL mankind. Like the II Peter passage, God’s desire for the salvation of all is brought up again. However, not everyone is saved because not everyone has accepted what He has provided as a means for their salvation. I Corinthians 15:1-4 tells us what one MUST believe to be saved, namely Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. I Timothy 2:6 tells us the provision for this to happen has been made for ALL, not just some. This simply means ANYONE can be saved if they’ll accept the provision God has made.
We then go to I John 2:1-2. There, too, we find that what Christ did was done for all. On the cross Christ’s work SATISFIED the justice of God. This tells us Christ paid the penalty for sin for ALL mankind, not just believers. What Christ did for ALL can’t be undone. He died for all our sins so that our sins would no longer be an obstacle to our salvation. Since Christ died for the sins of the world they can never be held against any. Christ fully satisfied the just demands of God regarding our sins. That doesn’t mean everyone is saved, it just means everyone is savable. If a person accepts the provision God has made for him through Christ [I Corinthians 15:1-4), he is given the righteousness of God and pronounced justified. That means salvation then becomes his. And because of all this, our salvation is completely secure. We can’t commit a sin for which Christ was not judged. They were all placed on Him at the cross [II Corinthians 5:18-21]. Therefore, there’s not sin we could ever commit that would nullify our salvation. And, no, this doesn’t give people a license to sin. Because of what Christ did for us, we should WANT to serve Him by a life of obedience. Furthermore, eternal reward becomes ours through our faithfulness. We will pick up with Galatians 1:5 next time. I hope you’ll join us.
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