2 Peter 2:1 They [false teachers] will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them.
Fully Bought
Bought! Paid for! Paid in full!
Did Christ pay the full redemption price?
Absolutely!
What constitutes the fullness of a full redemption price?
Did Christ fully pay…but only for some? The Calvinist would have us think so.
Or, did he fully pay the full price for all? The good Lutheran must say, yes.
God is good. God is perfect. He does everything he does with completion, with perfection, with…fullness.
As a result, none can ever legitimately say, “The Lord did not pay the full price for the whole world…the full price for me.” Satan, the accuser, cannot legitimately say, “The full price has not been paid.”
Though many refuse, the Lord Jesus Christ can (and does) effectively stand at the gates of hell day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute and say (through the preaching of the word), “Come.” And, even though many refuse, their refusal does nothing to negate the reality – the fullness of the reality – that Jesus did, indeed, pay for them with the full redemption price. They were bought. The price has been paid in full. Yet, they did not come.
Does Full Payment = Fully Applied to All?
Does full payment, however, equate to justification, forgiveness and righteousness fully applied to each individual account, even apart from faith? Or, does it mean fully applied to one account, namely Christ’s, until faith should come along and lay hold of it by individuals.
You’ll have to come to that conclusion on your own. What I know is this…as a child of God, I have been bought and fully paid for at a price and I am no longer my own (1Co 6:19-20). Further, I will strive to do my best to surrender my will to serve my Lord as though I belong to him (Lk 17:10).
What about you? What will you do?
What do you think…does UOJ or JIC work best here?