Holy Scripture teaches that Christ died for all it also teaches that most men are damned and that only a few find the road to eternal life how is this to be reconciled then does this mean that God fails in Saving in this video I will look at scripture the fathers and later Catholic and Protestant theologians to answer the question does God will that all men be saved I'm alive because at the cross God designed to purchase my awak from the dead which he didn't purchase for everybody why would Christ atone for sins that the father
has not determined to forgive in election it's sufficient to cover the sins of all the world then he died for everybody in different ways is not the reformed VI God sent Jesus into the world to die so that whoever believes will be saved I solely by God's grace with a great love he made you [Music] alive 1 Timothy 2 says quote I exhort therefore first supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for kings and for all that are in Authority for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God
our savior who will have all men to be saved and to come un the knowledge of the truth for there is one God and one mediator between God and Men the man Jesus Christ who gave himself as a ransom for all to be testified in due time end quote there are some in the calvinist camp who insist that all men in 1 Timothy 2 must mean all kinds of men and they will scoff at the idea that St Paul was instructing St Timothy to pray for literally all men in the world in behalf of all
men now in normal human language would that mean that the apostle was urging Timothy to have continuous NeverEnding formal prayer meetings where the entire Ephesian phone book big city by the way out and you start with the alphas you end with the omegas and then you restart again is that what anyone would have understood no it's not what everyone would have understood other Calvinists and the lutherans will affirm God really does will the salvation of all men in reality both interpretations are acceptable and make contextual sense St Augustine in chapter 103 of his inion asks
how God can will that all men be saved if not all are in fact saved he comments on 1 Timothy 2 quote we are to understand by all men the human race and all its varieties of rank and circumstances end quote since Paul mentions all kinds of men in high places he may be exhorting Timothy to pray for the higher authorities as well especially during this time of persecution St Paul anticipates that Christian communities may be neglecting higher authorities in their prayers since they are the ones who are incarcerating Christians now St John costum takes
the other View and says quote imitate God if he Wills that all men should be saved there is reason why one should pray for all if he has will that all should be saved be thou willing also and if you wish it pray for it for wishes lead to prayers end quote so does God will the salvation of all or not to respond to this we require a little bit of nuance for both yes and no are true and correct answers St John of Damascus presents a perfect synthesis by distinguishing between what God wills antecedently
and what he Wills consequently he says quote observe further that the ways of God's Providence are many and they cannot be explained in words nor conceived by the mind one must bear in mind that God antecedently wishes all to be saved and come to his kingdom for it was not for punishment that he formed us but to share in his goodness in as much as he is a good God but in as much as he is a just God his will is that Sinners should suffer punishment the first then is called God's antecedent will and
pleasure and Springs from himself while the second is called God's consequent will and permission and has its origin in US end quote St Thomas aquinus and His Suma expands on this adding that this distinction between the antecedent and consequent will of God must not be taken as applying to the Divine will itself in which there is nothing antecedent or consequent but instead this distinction is applied to the things willed he says quote hence it may be said of a just judge that antecedently he Wills all men to live but consequently he Wills the murderer to
be hanged in the same way God antecedently Wills all men to be saved but consequently Wills some to be damned as his Justice exacts end quote since God is perfectly simple he is not composed of parts or multiple Wills thus this distinction does not apply to God's will itself only to the things that are willed by him when we speak of his will antecedently we mean what God Wills abstractly without considering the circumstances this is God's General desire for goodness his consequent will is in consideration of the circumstances which is the actual unfolding of his
eternal decree scripture holds that God Wills all to be saved in some way you love all things that are and hate none of the things which you have made Ezekiel says and as I live says the Lord I desire not the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his ways and live end qu church history has always supported that Christ died for all men in some sense but especially for the elect St prosper in his call of vation says quote there can therefore be no reason to doubt that Jesus Christ Our Lord
died for the unbelievers and sinners End quot St Augustine affirms that Christ did die for all and quot 2 Corinthians 5:14 saying therefore all are dead and he died for all end quot in chapter 33 of on spirit in the letter St Augustine affirms a universal salvific will he says quote God no doubt wishes all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth but yet not so as to take away from them Free Will through the good or the evil use of which they may be most righteously judge this being
the case unbelievers indeed do contrary to the will of God when they do not believe his gospel nevertheless they do not therefore overcome his will but Rob their own selves of the greatest good thus God's will is forever Invincible but it would be vanquished unless it divis what to do with such as despised it or if these despises could in any way escape from the retribution which he has appointed for such as they end quot the Council of quiry in the year 853 taught in chapter 3 quot omnipotent God which is all men without exception
to be saved although not all will be saved however that certain ones are saved is the gift of the one who saves that certain ones perish however is a deserved punishment of those who perish end quot it further teaches that quote there is has been or will be no man for whom he has not suffered although not all will be saved by the mystery of his passion because the drink of human safety which has been prepared for our infirmity and by Divine strength has indeed in itself that it may be beneficial to all but if
it is not drunk it is not heal end quot the Council of Trent also teaches quote but although Christ died for all yet not all received the benefit of his death but those only to whom the Merit of his passion is communicated end quot Pope Innocent the 10th condemned the jansenist heresy which said that it is semi palagian to say that Christ died for all Pope Alexander VII also condemned the jansen's proposition that Christ gave himself only for the elect or for those who believe for a while he also condemned that infidels do not receive
any sufficient Grace the Catholic tradition has always supported that Christ died for all sufficiently but especially for the elect St Thomas aquinus commenting on 1 Timothy 2 says quote he is a propitiation for our sins efficaciously for some but sufficiently for all the price of his blood is sufficient for the Salvation of all but it has its effect only in the elect because of the obstacle to it in US end quote in assuma he writes quote as Christ's passion benefits all for the forgiveness of sin and the attaining of Grace and Glory whereas it produces
no effect except in those who are united with Christ's passion through faith and charity end quote now where do Calvinists or reformed Protestants stand on this issue it's actually quite complicated and a lot must be said in order to properly Nuance their position here I will only show a few theologians who are mostly in line with the Catholic tradition even though they depart from it greatly on other points when it comes to Grace and predestination very early reformed thinkers like verley and Even Calvin affirm the sufficiency of the atment while also holding that only the
elect receive the saving Effect 2 Peter 3:9 says quote the Lord does not wish that any should perish but that all should reach repentance end quot John Calvin comments and says so wonderful is his love towards mankind that he would have them all to be saved and is of his own self prepared to bestow salvation on the lost but the order is to be noticed that God is ready to receive all to repentance so that none may perish end qu further Acts 2:21 says and it shall come to pass ask that everyone who calls upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved end qu John Calvin comments therefore for as much as no man is excluded from calling upon God the Gate of Salvation is set open unto all men neither is there any other thing which keeps us back from entering in except their own unbelief end quot Peter Martyr rigle commenting on whether Christ's death is sufficient for all says qu if it is to be understood in a universal calling because it is propounded to all and no man is excluded by name it is true but if by this universality
it is meant that it is in all men's power to receive the promises I deny it because unto some it is given but unto others it is not given end quote in his treaties on the Eternal predestination of God Calvin writes quote it is also a fact without controversy that Christ came to atone for the sins of the whole world but the solution of all difficulty is immediately at hand and the truth and fact that it is whosoever believes in him who shall not perish but have eternal life from all which we conclude that although
reconciliation is offered unto all men through him yet that the great benefit belongs peculiarly to the elect that they might be gathered together and be made together partakers of eternal life end quot Bishop John davet wrote quote the death of Christ is represented in Holy Scripture as a universal remedy applicable to each and every human being for salvation according to God's ordination and the nature of the thing itself end quote so these earlier Calvinists and even some later ones while differing from the Catholic tradition going back to the early church that not only the elect
are ever Justified they do affirmed the sufficiency of Christ's passion and some application to the non-elect but wait if Christ is atoning for the sins of people who end up in hell does this take away from God's Providence does it put God the son in opposition with God the father's Eternal decree to save only the elect St Thomas aquinus anticipates his objection and says quote God permits the devil to deceive Men by certain persons and in times and places according to the hidden motive of his judgments still there is always a remedy provided through Christ's
passion for defending themselves against the wicked snares of the Demons even in the Antichrist time but if any man neglect to make use of this remedy it detracts nothing from the efficacy of Christ's passion end quote [Music]
