Efficacy of the Cross

          The source of information for this is the book, Salvation Accomplished by
     the Son:  The Work of Christ, by Robert A. Peterson.


          The first two pieces of evidence for particular atonement were trinitarian
     harmony, and exclusions in substitutionary atonement passages.
  


          The third piece of evidence for particular atonement concerns the efficacy
     of the cross.  Does Scripture present Christ's substitutionary atonement as po-
     tential, making possible the salvation of all, or as effective, securing the sal-
     vation of God's people?

          Mr. Peterson argues for the latter based on Revelation 5:9.  Christ the Lion
     and the Lamb, takes the scroll and is worshipped as the elders and living cre-
     tures prostrate themselves before Him and sing this song:

                                        "You are worthy to take the scroll
                                          and to open its seals, because you
                                          were slain, and with your blood
                                          you purchased men for God from
                                          every tribe and language and peo-
                                          ple and nation.

                                        "You made them to be a kingdom
                                          and priests to serve our God, and
                                          they will reign on the earth."
                                                                      Revelation 5:9-10


          The Lamb was "slain," that is, slaughtered in His sacrifice on the cross.  John
     explains what the Lamb's unique sacrifice accomplished:  with His blood He
     purchased human beings.

          Notice the results of the Lamb's redeeming work.  The song says,

                                                                                                                                                                              
                                       "With your blood you purchased men for
                                         God from every tribe and language and
                                         people and nation."
                                                                      Revelation 5:9

          The italicized word is supplied in translation.  This is a partitive construction:
     the preposition "from" introduces the whole out of which what precedes is a part.
     So translations must supply a word (marked here by italics) to indicate the part:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                           
                                         "You purchased men for God from
                                           every tribe."  NIV

                                         "You ransomed for God saints from
                                           every tribe."  NRSV

                                         "You ransomed people for God from
                                           every tribe."  ESV

                                         "You ... purchased for God men from
                                           every tribe."  NASB

                                         "You bought for God people from
                                           every tribe."  CEV


          The point is that Jesus via His substitutionary atonement redeemed a part of the
     human race out of the bigger whole, "every tribe and language and people and na-
     tion."  Christ's atonement is not potential, but actual; His blood purchases people
     for God from among the nations.

          The words "tribe and language and people and nation" refer to the same entity -
     humankind from the perspectives of people group, tongue, location, and political
     entity, respectively.  Here John helps us understand the meaning of Christ's dying
     for "the world" and "all" in Scripture.

          Christ ransoms people out of "every tribe and language and people and nation,"
     that is, from out of the world.  This verse does not teach a universal but a particular
     atonement.  It doesn't say that Christ died for every human being; it says that He
     died for people from every nation.


          The concept of "world" here, therefore is collective (formed by collecting;
     gathered into a whole") rather than distributive ("referring to each member of a
     group regarded individually").  Christ died for the world -- understood as all with-
     out distinction (in this case, His people from around the world), not all without
     exception (all people everywhere).

           A distributive interpretation is impossible because Christ's blood actually de-
     livers people out of every tribe and so on.    This suggests we are justified in un-
     derstanding world in other atonement passages in a collective rather than a dis-
     tributive sense.  The Lamb redeemed persons from "every tribe and language and
     people and nation."


          Jesus died to redeem persons in "every tribe," including

                    Masai, Zulu, Yoruba, Xhosa, Tutsi, and Hutu.


         Jesus died to redeem persons in "every language," including

                   Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, and Tagalog.


         Jesus died to redeem persons among "every people," including

                  those born in mainland China, Taiwanese - and American- born
                  Chinese, among others.


          Jesus died to redeem persons in "every nation," including

                   Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Chile.


                                                      **********


          To recapitulate:  we believe in particular substitutionary atonement because
     Scripture implies it when it speaks of Father, Son, and Spirit working harmoni-
     ously to save the people of God (Eph. 1:3-14; John 17:2,6, 9-10,19,24; 1 Pet.1:1-2).

          We hold to definite atonement because sometimes when the Bible speaks of
     Christ's saving death, it excludes some persons (John 10:11,15,26; 17:2,9,19).

          We teach limited atonement because Scripture describes the cross as effective,
     not making salvation possible for all, but actually securing salvation for multi-
     tudes (Rev.5:9; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).