He Shall Save His People: A Sermon on Mt 1:21

Matthew 1:21:  “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  ESV

The Greek meaning of Jesus is Joshua.  It means “Yahweh is salvation” or “Yahweh saves.”  When we look at the Old and New Testament we see that God predicted the coming of His Only Beloved Son that is fulfilled in His coming in the New Testament as the divine Messiah who would save His people from their sins.  The doctrine we will study today is the doctrine of limited atonement.  It is also known as definite atonement.  It is centered upon the design of the atonement of the Lord Jesus.  It is focused on the intent of the Father sending Jesus to the cross.  The effect of the work of the Lord Jesus is limited to those who believe.  A non-universalist would agree with this.  The atonement of Christ does not avail for non-believers.  There are people who are not saved through His death.  No one disagrees that the atonement of Christ is sufficient to pay for the sins of every person who has ever lived or will ever live.  People understand this as “Christ’s atoning death is sufficient for all, but efficient only for some.”  But this does not get to the heart of limited atonement.  People who deny definite atonement say that the sins of everybody were paid by Christ on the cross.  Its design was to pay for the sins of everybody.  Their theology as RC Sproul says, “It made possible the salvation of everyone, but made certain the salvation of no one.”  The design of it is unlimited and indefinite.  The Reformed Orthodox view is that the design and intent of Christ’s atonement was for the elect alone.  The Lord Jesus laid down His life only for the sheep.  The Atonement of Christ made certain the salvation of all the elect.  The work of redemption was an actual work not a potential work.  The design and intent of the atonement could not be frustrated.  The purpose of God in salvation is absolutely sure. 

We must understand the offer of the atonement.  Some people insist that the gospel offer is universal.  The Atonement and its benefits are offered only to people who believe.  But others say it is misleading and a play on words.  If the elect are the only ones who believe, the offer goes out to them only in reality.  The atonement’s benefits are never offered to the impenitent or unbelieving people.  Belief and repentance are conditions held only by the elect.  Ultimately, then, the atonement is offered only to the elect.   Loraine Boettner wrote,

3. THE ATONEMENT IS LIMITED IN PURPOSE AND APPLICATION

While the value of the atonement was sufficient to save all mankind, it was efficient to save only the elect. It is indifferently well adapted to the salvation of one man to that of another, thus making the salvation of every man objectively possible; yet because of subjective difficulties, arising on account of the sinners own inability either to see or appreciate the things of God, only those are saved who are regenerated and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The reason why God does not apply this grace to all men has not been fully revealed.

When the atonement is made universal its inherent value is destroyed. If it is applied to all men, and if some are lost, the conclusion is that it makes salvation objectively possible for all but that it does not actually save anybody. According to the Arminian theory the atonement has simply made it possible for men to co-operate with divine grace and thus save themselves ---if they will. But tell us of one cured of disease and yet dying of cancer, and the story will be equally luminous with that of one eased of sin and yet perishing through unbelief. The nature of the atonement settles its extent. If it merely made salvation possible, it applied to all men. If it effectively secured salvation, it had reference only the elect. As Dr. Warfield says, "The things we have to choose between are an atonement of high value, or an atonement of wide extension. The two cannot go together." The work of Christ can be universalized only by evaporating its substance.

Let there be no misunderstanding at this point. The Arminian limits the atonement as certainly as does the Calvinist. The Calvinist limits the extent of it in that he says it does not apply to all persons (although as has already been shown, he believes that it is efficacious for the salvation of the large proportion of the human race); while the Arminian limits the power of it, for he says that in itself it does not actually save anybody. The Calvinist limits it quantitatively, but not qualitatively; the Arminian limits it qualitatively, but not quantitatively. For the Calvinist it is like a narrow bridge which goes all the way across the stream; for the Arminian it is like a great wide bridge which goes only half-way across. As a matter of fact, the Arminian places more severe limitations on the work of Christ than does the Calvinist.

1 John 2:2 says, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”  People like to cite this verse as evidence against definite atonement.  It seems to say that the death of Christ was intended for everybody.  It can prove more then what non-Reformed people want it to.  It becomes a proof text for universalism.  The propitiatory sacrifice (that is, satisfying divine justice) could not be for the sins of everybody because everyone would be saved.  If the sins of unbelievers were punished on Christ, then He would be unjust to punish them in hell.  The people included in the “our” are God’s people.  The gospel is not limited to Jews but to the Gentiles also.  God saves His people from all parts of the world.  The Lord loves the world but does not save the world, but He saves those that are His out of the world.  Christ not only propitiated the sins of Jewish people (that is, the meaning our) but also for the elect who are throughout the world. 

"Election is ascribed to God the Father, sanctification to the Spirit and reconciliation to Jesus Christ.  This is the chain of salvation and never a link of this chain must be broken.  The Son cannot die for them the Father never elected, and the Spirit will never sanctify them whom the Father has not elected nor the Son redeemed." 
Thomas Manton

"Application is the making effectual, in certain men, all those things which Christ has done and does as mediator."
William Ames

"As for the intention of application, it is rightly said that Christ made satisfaction only for those whom he saved."
William Ames

"[If Jesus died for all men]...why then, are not all freed from the punishment of all their sins?  You will say, "Because of their unbelief; they will not believe."  But his unbelief, is it sin, or not?  If not, why should they be punished for it?  If it be sin, then Christ underwent the punishment due to it; If this is so, then why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which he died from partaking of the fruit of his death?  If he did not, then he did not die for all their sins." 
John Owen

"We are often told that we limit the atonement of Christ, because we say that Christ has not made satisfaction for all men, or all men would be saved.  Now, our reply to this is, that, on the other hand, our opponents limit it: we do not.  The Arminians say, Christ died for all men. Ask them what they mean by it.  Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of all men.   They say, "No, certainly not."  We ask them the next question--Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of any man in particular?  They answer, "No."  They are obliged to admit this, if they are consistent.  They say, "No, Christ has died that any man may be saved if..." --and then follow certain conditions of salvation.  Now, who is it that limits the death of Christ? Why, you.  You say that Christ did not die so as to secure the salvation of anybody.   We beg your pardon, when you say that we limits Christ's death; we say, "no my dear sir, it is you that do it."  We say Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ's death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved.  You are welcome to your atonement; you may keep it.  We will never renounce ours for the sake of it."
Charles Spurgeon

We know that the plan of God was made before the world was.  We know that it is consistent with His eternal purpose.  His atonement was not a divine afterthought.  The atonement was determined at the foundation of the world.  We know that it was not guesswork.  It was according to an eternal plan.  God sovereignly brought it to pass.  Those for whom Christ died are redeemed by His atoning death for them. 

Isaiah 53 speaks of the Christ bearing our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions and our iniquities:

1Who has believed what they heard from us?
   And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2For he grew up before him like a young plant,
   and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
   and no beauty that we should desire him.
3He was despised and rejected^[b] by men;
   a man of sorrows,^[c] and acquainted with^[d] grief;^[e]
and as one from whom men hide their faces^[f]
   he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 4Surely he has borne our griefs
   and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
   smitten by God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions;
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
   and with his stripes we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray;
   we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.

And we read again in Isaiah where he speaks:

 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
   yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
   and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
   so he opened not his mouth.
8By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
   and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
   stricken for the transgression of my people?
9And they made his grave with the wicked
   and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
   and there was no deceit in his mouth.

 10Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
   he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for sin,
   he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see^[ and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
   make many to be accounted righteous,
   and he shall bear their iniquities.
12Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
   and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
   and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
   and makes intercession for the transgressors.

When Isaiah speaks of “the sin of many” he is referring to every one of the elect.  He is not referring to, however, the sin of all humanity upon the Lord Jesus on the cross.  Did the Lord Jesus intercede on behalf of Judas?  Did the Lord Jesus intercede on behalf of Cain, Balaam, Esau and Saul?  If these individuals were unbelievers the answer is, no; He did not intercede for them.  You see, Christ’s atonement does not potentially save but it actually saves.  If Christ interceded on the behalf of past unbelievers; His intercession failed utterly.  It failed because they are now in hell.  Has Christ ever interceded on behalf of others who are in hell?  If He did, His atonement is a failure of the highest sort.  But we know that the atonement of Jesus and His intercession has a purposeful, powerful and effective result.  Those who Christ intended to die for will be actually saved.  Those He intercedes for will be brought to heaven when they died.    This means that has never failed at His intercession on behalf of His people.  It means that His atonement has never failed a single individual in history of whom He died for.  That is why doctrine is so important.  If we say that Christ atoned for the sin of unbelievers, and yet it failed, do we not make Christ the greatest failure in human history?  If He failed to save His own, and they reap the consequences of hell—there is no greater failure in human history.  How we understand doctrine is essential to our understanding of the divine Scripture.  We either make Christ a perfect Savior according to sound Reformed Orthodox theology—that is, His work of atonement and intercession is wholly perfect, and He loses none that are His.   Or we make the perfect Savior, an utter failure who is unable to save His own.  If we take the latter is more then an imperfect Savior then a perfect Savior.  We need to espouse sound doctrine that is true that uplifts the Lord.  We ought not to espouse false doctrine that downplays or retracts His glory.    But we see many Christians who believe doctrine that take away the glory of God and replaced it with the glory of man.  We ought to desire doctrine that brings the greatest glory to God alone because of the truth of Scripture. 

John Calvin wrote,

21. And thou shalt call his name JESUS. I have already explained briefly, but as far as was necessary, the meaning of that word. At present I shall only add, that the words of the angel set aside the dream of those who derive it from the essential name of God, Jehovah; for the angel expresses the reason why the Son of God is so called, Because he shall SAVE his people; which suggests quite a different etymology from what they have contrived. It is justly and appropriately added, they tell us, that Christ will be the author of salvation, because he is the Eternal God. But in vain do they attempt to escape by this subterfuge; for the nature of the blessing which God bestows upon us is not all that is here stated. This office was conferred upon his Son from the fact, from the command which had been given to him by the Father, from the office with which he was invested when he came down to us from heaven. Besides, the two words ᾿Ιησοῦς and יהוה, Jesus and Jehovah, agree but in two letters, and differ in all the rest; which makes it exceedingly absurd to allege any affinity whatever between them, as if they were but one name. Such mixtures I leave to the alchymists, or to those who closely resemble them, the Cabalists who contrive for us those trifling and affected refinements.

He shall save his people from their sins The first truth taught us by these words is, that those whom Christ is sent to save are in themselves lost. But he is expressly called the Savior of the Church. If those whom God admits to fellowship with himself were sunk in death and ruin till they were restored to life by Christ, what shall we say of “strangers” (Ephesians 2:12) who have never been illuminated by the hope of life? When salvation is declared to be shut up in Christ, it clearly implies that the whole human race is devoted to destruction. The cause of this destruction ought also to be observed; for it is not unjustly, or without good reason, that the Heavenly Judge pronounces us to be accursed. The angel declares that we have perished, and are overwhelmed by an awful condemnation, because we stand excluded from life by our sins. Thus we obtain a view of our corruption and depravity; for if any man lived a perfectly holy life, he might do without Christ as a Redeemer. But all to a man need his grace; and, therefore, it follows that they are the slaves of sin, and are destitute of true righteousness.

Hence, too, we learn in what way or manner Christ saves; he delivers us from sins This deliverance consists of two parts. Having made a complete atonement, he brings us a free pardon, which delivers us from condemnation to death, and reconciles us to God. Again, by the sanctifying influences of his Spirit, he frees us from the tyranny of Satan, that we may live “unto righteousness,” (1 Peter 2:24.) Christ is not truly acknowledged as a Savior, till, on the one hand, we learn to receive a free pardon of our sins, and know that we are accounted righteous before God, because we are free from guilt; and till, on the other hand, we ask from him the Spirit of righteousness and holiness, having no confidence whatever in our own works or power. By Christ’s people the angel unquestionably means the Jews, to whom he was appointed as Head and King; but as the Gentiles were shortly afterwards to be ingrafted into the stock of Abraham, (Romans 11:17,) this promise of salvation is extended indiscriminately to all who are incorporated by faith in the “one body” (1 Corinthians 12:20) of the Church.

The people of God, the elect of Christ, Christ came to save.  Matthew Henry wrote:

Note, those whom Christ saves he saves from their sins; from the guilt of sin by the merit of his death, from the dominion of sin by the Spirit of his grace. In saving them from sin, he saves them from wrath and the curse, and all misery here and hereafter. Christ came to save his people, not in their sins, but from their sins; to purchase for them, not a liberty to sin, but a liberty from sins, to redeem them from all iniquity (Tit. ii. 14); and so to redeem them from among men (Rev. xiv. 4) to himself, who is separate from sinners. So that those who leave their sins, and give up themselves to Christ as his people, are interested in the Saviour, and the great salvation which he has wrought out, Rom. xi. 26.

Let us understand what divine Scripture says.  God saves His people from their sins:

Romans 11:27, "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."

Hebrews 8:12, "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE."

Hebrews 10:17, "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS

DEEDSI WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."

God gave His Son so that His people may have eternal life:

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The sheep alone (that is, the elect are His); they listen to His voice, He knows them and they follow Him.  The world does not follow Him but the sheep.  The sheep have eternal life and they shall never perish.  No one is able to take them out of the Father’s hand.  The Father gave the elect to the Son, and the Father is greater then all.  No one can overpower Him to take the elect away from Him.  The Son and the Father are one: both are equally divine and have the same purpose:

John 10: 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."

The Son prayed for the elect alone and not for the world.  Christ did not pray for the world.  He excluded them.  The ones for whom Christ prayed for are the Father and the Son. 

John 17: 9I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

The Lord Jesus purchases His own with His blood. 

Acts 20: 28Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.  Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

Those for whom He predestined He called, and those He called He justified and those He justified He glorified. 

Romans 8: 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Here are additional verses that speak to the reality of limited atonement:

John 6:37-40, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.   For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.  And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Acts 20:28, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;"

Father, may we understand Your truth of the cross; its design and intent.  May we fervently speak Your truth in a dark world in Jesus’ name, Amen.