************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 20 ************
Doctrine: Limited Atonement & Necessity of True Faith
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on March 19, 2000
Q & A 20
Romans 11:11-24
"Are You Saved?"
Introduction
I have a very important question to ask you. It is the most important question one person can ever ask another. I want to know, "Are you saved?"
Don't answer this question too quickly, congregation. Make sure you consider your answer very carefully before answering.
"Are you saved?" I don't want you to answer this question too quickly because the Gospels tell us there will be many surprised and shocked people before the Judgment throne; they will be surprised and shocked for they will find out they are not saved.
Who are these surprised and shocked people? They are regular churchgoers just like you and me. They participate in church programs and ministries. They contribute to the church budget. They read the Bible and pray. They claim a relationship with Jesus Christ. Perhaps they give their children a Christian education. But the Lord knows what is really in their heart; He knows it is not at all sincere and real; He knows their lives are but a lie.
One day someone asked Jesus, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" (Lk 13:23). Jesus' reply: "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to" (Lk 13:24).
Do you see what the Lord did here? He didn't answer the question about who is going to be saved. Rather, Jesus directed this person's attention to his own standing before the Lord. In effect Jesus was saying, "don't concern yourself with who is going to be saved; rather, concern yourself with whether you will be saved."
In looking at Q & A 20 we should follow the leading of the Lord here: our attention ought to be focused, first of all, on ourselves and our own standing before the Lord. In discussing whether all men are saved through Christ we ought to consider our own relationship with the Lord. Limited atonement – which is the name of the doctrine being discussed here – is not some abstract doctrine unrelated to our lives; rather, it calls us to focus our attention on ourselves.
Therefore, during the course of this sermon, my brothers and sisters, I will call you to make sure of your own salvation. I want you to make sure of your standing before the Lord lest you be one of those who are surprised and shocked before the Judgment Throne.
I Not Everyone is Saved
A Today the Catechism asks us, "Are all men saved?" This is not a neutral question, a question that can be discussed logically and quietly, without passion or intensity. This question, you see, concerns all of us: it is a question about our neighbor, a family member, maybe even ourselves.
Remember what we learned about the original sin of Adam: that all men are lost in Adam, that all men fell into sin in Adam? Scripture presents Christ to us as the second Adam (1 Cor 15:45). Is it possible that as in the first Adam all die, so in the second Adam all will be made alive (cf 1 Cor 15:22)?
The Bible's answer is that all people are not going to be saved by Christ, although all were lost in Adam.
B Before going any further we ought to spend a few moments looking at the desire of God. You are a poor Christian if you do not know that God desires all people to be saved. In the Old Testament God said through Moses:
(Deut 30:19-20) This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (20) and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
Through one of the prophets the Lord said: "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth" (Is 45:22). And in our age God has appointed ambassadors to go to the ends of the earth saying: "We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:20). In fact, one of the few known reasons why the Lord has not yet come in final judgment is His desire that no one should perish, but that all should repent (2 Pet 3:9). God, says Paul, "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim 2:4).
We should want this too. We too should want the salvation of all men.
Wanting what God wants is not enough. We are poor Christians and have little love in our hearts if we do not participate in the God-given mission of the church to the lost. God has given to the church and to every believer a command to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19). So let me ask you, "Who have you witnessed to about Christ Jesus?" I am not talking about evangelism, because not all of us can knock on doors. I am talking about witnessing, about sharing Christ with people you have contact with every day.
I think you all realize that there are also other ways to participate in God's mission to the lost. All of us can pray for the lost and for missionaries and pastors who bring them the Good News. We can get involved in Prison Ministry. We can invite a neighbor to Coffee Break or to our worship services. All of us have the opportunity to support various missionaries through Faith Promise. All of us have the opportunity to give to the missionaries in World Missions, Home Missions, The Back to God Hour, and CRWRC when we give generously to the General Fund or offerings.
Did you know we are responsible when an unbelieving neighbor does not go to heaven? We are responsible if we do not participate in the mission of the church, if we do not press him or her to make a personal decision for the Lord.
C God may wish for the salvation of all people, and we have to proclaim the Gospel to all, but this may not lead us to teach or believe universal salvation.
Many disagree with this and say all men are saved. These people are universalists. They say that Christ came for all, He has died for all, and His work is meant for all. These people point to God's Word through the apostle: "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive" (1 Cor 15:22).
Certain Scripture texts lead us to believe that Christ has not come for all, He has not died for all, His work is not meant for all so all will not be saved. Rather, he came and died for His people – variously known as the church, the elect, those given Him by the Father (cf Mt 1:21; Jn 10:11; Jn 17:9; Rom 8:32-35; Eph 5:25).
A proper reading of the 1 Corinthians 15 text also supports this: "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive" (vs 22). Everybody, every human being, is in Adam, so everyone dies. But not everyone is in Christ – only believers are – so not everyone lives, not everyone is saved.
Are you one of the saved ones?
I am sure you recognize we have two incompatible truths here: God wants no one to perish and wants all to be saved; yet, Christ was not sent for all, did not die for all, and is not meant for all, though His work is sufficient for all. God wants all saved but intends to save only some. God wants the church to call all men to repentance yet He does not intend to save all those who hear the Gospel.
We face a mystery here that someday may be explained to us. In the meantime all we can do is confess both truths, admit to our insufficient understanding, and be obedient to our calling to proclaim the Gospel both at home and abroad.
II Only the Believing are Saved
A Who, then, are saved? "Only those are saved," says the Catechism, "who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all his blessings."
This is an intolerant teaching. It gives no saving credit to other religions, and it declares all human efforts hopeless.
Many people struggle with this teaching. What about those who lack faith? Are they outside the realm of salvation? What about "good pagans" who lived before the birth of Christ? What about those who through no fault of their own never heard the Gospel message? What about those who have heard the Gospel only in an incomplete and distorted form? Or what about those who live in places like modern Albania, for instance, where Christianity is against the law? Are all these people necessarily lost?
Some people say that God, out of mercy, will find room for "good pagans" in His Kingdom. These people would argue that every path, every religion, leads to heaven.
We can't agree with this. "Only those are saved who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all his blessings."
B With this answer we come to the Great Divide. Here is the crack that runs through humanity, a fissure that will one day turn out to be a chasm no one will cross (Lk 16:26). Two will be in one bed, and one will be accepted and the other will be rejected. Two will cooperate in the drive for crippled children; one will be accepted and the other will be rejected. Two will be members of the same church, and one will be accepted and the other will be rejected. And the reason for the separation will be in the person's relationship to Christ.
This is the only division in humanity that's worth pointing out. Most other divisions – race, nationality, economic class, church membership, sex, sexual orientation – are due to sin and circumstance, and none are insurmountable for those who believe. But this one has to do with Jesus Christ and our relationship to him. We should quit getting worked up about other divisions by learning to get excited about this division. Christ is the God-given Divider. He is the "rock of salvation" or the "stumbling stone" (1 Pet 2:8). A person is either "for" and "with" him or "against" him (Mt 12:30). Ground is never neutral where his cross has been planted. By faith in Christ a person is saved, but 'how shall we escape if we neglect [not reject, but neglect or ignore] such a great salvation?' (Heb 2:3)."
The most basic question of life is this: What do you think of Jesus? By the answer to that question all people will be judged and divided.
I ask you again, congregation, to examine your relationship to Christ. Have you accepted Him as your Savior and Lord? Don't forget, in all of this talk about limited atonement Christ Jesus wants you to examine your relationship to Him.
III The Benefits of True Faith
A Why all this emphasis on "receiving" Jesus Christ by "believing in his name" (Jn 1:12)? Why all this talk about faith? Because there is no other way of salvation.
Scripture tells us that by true faith we are "grafted" into Christ and accept all His blessings.
Grafting is one of the most wonderful possibilities in creation. A person who has been badly burned in an accident can be saved from constant infection and excruciating pain by means of a skin graft. A strip of tissue from a healthy part of the body is surgically removed and transplanted to the burned area. There a surgeon carefully fastens the skin transplant to the surrounding tissue with special stitches. Gradually, if the graft "takes," skin from a healthy thigh or inner arm will begin to grow at the burned site.
Bones can be grafted too. In fact, sometimes a bone from one person is grafted onto the fresh end of someone else's bone. There are even bone banks that keep various bones on deposit till an injury or disease calls for them.
Perhaps most common of all grafts are those that people perform on trees like area walnuts . A person slices a twig from one tree and carries it to another. There he cuts a V-notch, or "envelope," that can receive the new twig. The cut end of the twig is inserted into the notch. The joint is then sealed with grafting wax or tape to hold the graft securely and to keep out disease. If the graft takes, nourishing food and water will soon run from the roots and trunk into the newly attached twig. In the last church I served someone successfully grafted the branches of 3 or 4 different kinds of apples onto one trunk.
Romans 11 and Q & A 20 speak of human grafting. Believers are grafted into Christ. And, faith is the grafting wax or tape that binds us to Christ.
B The grafting image tells us a number of things about ourselves as Christians. First, the grafting image speaks of our union with Christ. We are the branches on the tree, and the tree is Christ. Thus we are one with the Lord.
Second, it tells us that we are spiritually alive and producing fruit only because we are united to Christ. Only from Him and through Him do we get the nourishment needed to live and grow and produce fruit. In fact, either we share in Christ's nourishing life or we wither. Either we are united to Jesus Christ by faith or else we remain dead in our sins and trespasses.
Third, grafting is always done by a third party. Branches do not graft themselves onto a trunk; rather, grafting is something done to them. In the same way, we do not graft ourselves onto Christ; rather, grafting is something that God does to us and for us. It is a gift of His grace and an operation of His Spirit; it is not something we can take credit for or have pride in (cf Rom 11:17f).
Conclusion
"Are all men saved through Christ just as all were lost through Adam?"
"No. Only those are saved who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all his blessings."
Not everyone is saved, congregation. In fact, says Jesus, before the Judgment Throne many will find out to their shock and horror that they are not among those who belong to Jesus. Therefore it is so very important to examine your relationship with the Lord. I have to ask you, do you believe in Him? Have you accepted Him as your Lord and Master? You must for there is no other way of salvation.
Of course, as I have already indicated, it is one of the great and beautiful mysteries of faith that it is not really you who chooses for the Lord. Rather, it is the Lord who chooses you. The faith that grafts you into Christ is not your own doing but is a gift of grace (Eph 1:8).