"Not Counting Their Trespasses" - II Corinthians 5:19

One of the reasons why I believe in unlimited atonement, although I consider myself a Calvinist, is because I am first and foremost a biblicist. There are just too many verses that cannot be satisfactorily explained from the limited atonement perspective. One of the verses that cannot, in my opinion, be reconciled with a limited atonement perspective is II Corinthians 5:19. And reconciliation is the topic of this verse and the immediate context.

In verse eighteen Paul tells us that God "...reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation..." Paul goes on in verse twenty to say that "...we are ambassadors for Christ..." begging people to be "...be reconciled to God". But verse nineteen is the heart of this passage which says that,

"...God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

What this verse tells us is that because of Christ's death on the cross, God is no longer counting our sins against us. He wants to be reconciled with the "world".

Now someone can say that the "world" is only the elect, and in one sense, that is correct. Only the elect will respond to God's gracious call. But there is nothing in this verse or the immediate context to indicate that the term "world" should be limited in anyway. To be fair to the text we have to say that God is not counting the sins of the entire world against them.

Does that make me a universalist? Not at all, because it is clear in the text as well that people have to be willing to respond to God's generous and gracious actions by being reconciled to Him, and it is our responsibility to encourage, even beg people to be reconciled to God by accepting His offer through trusting in His Son.

The point is that people are no longer technically guilty before God of sin. God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf. Now the issue is whether a person will put his or her trust in Christ alone. This is now the issue. As John 3:18 says,

"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

This is why Christ said that the only sin that would not be forgiven is "blasphemy against the Spirit" (Matthew 12:31,32) which in the context is denying the Spirit's witness to Christ as the Savior and attributing the work of the Spirit to Satan. In short, the unforgivable sin is saying that Jesus is not the Savior as attested by the Holy Spirit. Every other sin is covered by the blood of Christ. But if one refuses the provision for sin given by God there is no other provision for sin and one is rightly and justly condemned.

There are other verses that in my opinion are impossible to square with belief in limited atonement, and I will discuss them in future posts. Suffice it to say that even though I hold this position I am not at war with brothers and sisters who hold to limited atonement. One of my brothers and my only brother-in-law are committed to this position. But I get along fine with them and other limited atonement folks who are willing to do these things.

First, be willing to tell people that God loves them. Since we don't know who the elect are, God does not have a problem with us saying even to total strangers, "God loves you." He has already essentially said this in John 3:16, which I believe even John Calvin said declares God's love for not just the elect, but the entire world.

Second, be willing to share the Gospel freely with all men, women and children. Since we don't know who the elect are, we need to tell everyone we can about Christ. That fits perfectly with II Corinthians 5:18-20.

Along this line I have a vivid picture in my mind of my brother-in-law, on his knees in a hospital room in Kiev many years ago. He was begging patients with tears to be reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Many responded to that entreaty and I hope to see them again in glory. Telling people about Jesus and letting God save whoever He desires, and whoever responds, is something I hope we can all agree on.