Letters    

 AN ANSWER TO CHARLES FINNEY

Dear D. I.                                                                                                      August 13, 1990

      Thank you for your inquiry regarding particular redemption, or limited atonement. Before addressing the several statements advanced by Finney in his Heart of Truth (p. 228), consider two things first. One, consider the fact that if one sinner goes to Hell for whom Christ died, Jesus is a failure: He was either unable to do what He wanted to do, or He did not know how to save him. This amounts to a denial of the facts that God is Almighty and All-wise.

       Second, consider as well that behind the inability of men to accept the doctrine of limited atonement is the arrogant conceit of men to presume to judge the fairness of God. Jesus said, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil because I am good" (Matthew 20:15)? And, Paul asked, "Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor" (Romans 9:21)? Romans chapter 9 is the most hated chapter in the Bible, and is therefore the most neglected. Now, to address the statements as you give them.

8. That it (the atonement) was made for all mankind is evident from the fact that it is offered to all indiscriminately (Note that this and following statements in bold are the words of Charles Finney.).

      There is a call in eternity as well as in time. In eternity, the call of God is called "election", or simply "choosing," but in time, the call of God may be a general call, or a particular call. The call of God in time is made by the preaching of the gospel.

    Whenever the gospel is preached, a general call is given, but when the Holy Spirit "convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment" applying the truth of God to the sinner, it is a specific, or a particular call. The general call brings the gospel to bear on no one, but only serves to bring men to judgment. The specific, or particular call, is designed to bring salvation to God's elect. This is the reason the angel told Joseph, "Thou shalt call his name `Jesus' for he shall save" (Note, he did not say that He would try to save, or that He would do the best He could to save) "his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). So, Luke says, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

       Jesus prayed, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. ...I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine" (John 17:6,9). Have I taken this out of context? Then I am dishonest, and a deceiver.

        THE TWO-EDGED SWORD: The purpose for preaching is not simply that men might be saved: it is also to bring men to judgment. This is the reason the apostle says, "Now thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved AND IN THEM THAT PERISH: to the one we are the savor of death unto death, and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? FOR WE ARE NOT AS MANY, WHICH CORRUPT THE WORD OF GOD: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ" (II Corinthians 2:14-17).

9. Sinners are universally condemned for not receiving the atonement.

      Brownlow North once said that when a man comes to the Scriptures, he must accept some things he does not like and a great many things he does not understand. The Bible does teach particular redemption, yet it also teaches the responsibility of man. Man is accountable to God, and has the duty to worship Him because of l.) creation, 2.) preservation, and 3.) because of salvation, the gift of God.

     I do not profess to be wiser than my forebears in being able to understand how the atonement can be limited in its scope, and yet God holds men responsible for refusing it, but this I do know: it is a Biblical fact that He does, and that it is error to teach any doctrine to the contrary. Nor does the truth lie somewhere midway between the two doctrines, but it lies rather in the extremes of both, and he is most faithful in handling the Word of God who proclaims both, and not he who eliminates one because he cannot understand how both can be true.

      The truth of God is two-sided. For this reason, some Scripture speaks from God's vantage-point, while others speak from the standpoint of man, and of his responsibility. This is the reason why the Apostle Paul speaks of the sinner as being "dead in trespasses and sins" and as "having no hope" (Ephesians 2:1,12); while other writers of Scripture command sinners to "repent", "believe", "come", etc. The question is not, "Which is true?" because both are true.

10. If the atonement is not intended for all mankind, God is insincere in making them the offer of salvation through the atonement.

     This is the same problem Finney had in his former proposition: it is a failure to recognize the dichotomy of Scripture between human responsibility, and divine election and predestination.

     Finney's question here is also the same problem he had in his 8th proposition where he refused to accept the fact that Jesus Christ has a people He has come to save. Nevertheless, God will save His people from their sins, while others are given the gospel for their just condemnation. This is the reason the pardon of God is called a "gift"; and, it is given by His "grace." God never intended to save all people. Those who believe He did have a weak God, and one who is a failure.

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