Hebrews 10:14
By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
Calvinist, James White, comments: “If the offering of Christ perfects those for whom it is made, where is there room for an atonement that is universal in scope but ineffectual in result? Where is the hypothetical atonement of evangelical tradition?” (Debating Calvinism, p.175, emphasis mine)
In terms of Hebrews 10:10, White adds: “According to this verse, the death of Christ sanctifies all those for whom it is made....” (Debating Calvinism, p.190, emphasis mine)
White concludes: “Christ’s substitutionary death in behalf of His people is a real and finished work: It is not dependent upon the human act of faith for success or failure.” (Debating Calvinism, p.191, emphasis mine)
The perfection and santification don’t come until it is received. Although it’s a finished work, it remains unclaimed until a person receives the provision by faith, and that’s where White gets into trouble, by trying to say that it is not effectuated through faith. It’s effectuation very much does depend upon faith.
As evident from the example of the atonement that Jesus provided at John 3:14, in pointing to Numbers 21:6-9, the healing properties of God’s provision of the serpent on a standard, did not transmit any healing properties unless a person looked upon it. Therefore, to suggest that the Cross of Calvary is not dependent upon the human act of faith, is also to suggest that the serpent on a standard was not dependent upon the human act of looking upon it.
Calvinist, Erwin Lutzer, writes: “If it is true that Christ died to redeem a specific number of people, namely those whom the Father had given him, it follows that all believers were redeemed at the cross two thousand years ago. They were cleared of all charges then, for God accepted the ransom payment.” (The Doctrine That Divide, p.185, emphasis mine)
Question: For whom was the offering made?
Answer: “Everyone” (Hebrews 2:9)
Question: Are unbelievers sanctified? Are unbelievers perfected?
Answer: Unbelievers are condemned. (John 3:18)
Question: How has the offering of Christ at Calvary “perfected for all time those who are sanctified” and how are we “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”?
Answer: Because God comes to live inside of you. His indwelling sanctifies you, so that your body becomes “a temple of God.” (1st Corinthians 3:16)
Question: If someone was cleared of all charges, secretly, two thousand years ago at Calvary, how could it be said that while they lived as unbelievers, they were “judged already,” as Jesus taught? (John 3:18)
Answer: Which unbeliever is said to be “a temple of God”? If you reject Christ, then you “neglect” God’s provision for you at Calvary. (Hebrews 2:3)
Question: What does it mean that Jesus is the one whom “God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (Romans 3:25), “so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus”? (Romans 3:26)
Answer: It is believers who are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The death of Christ sanctifies believers, who, through faith in Him, have access to His cleansing blood. 1st John 1:7-9 states: “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The benefits of the blood of Christ are transmitted to you, when you believe in Him. Only when you believe in Him, do you pass out of judgment: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)
Question: For those who are “sanctified” in Christ, if there was just one sin that could unsanctify you, how could you have ever truly been “perfected,” and how could it have been for “all time”?
Answer: It seems that if you could somehow fall from the grace of being in Christ, then there would be no further remedy, no sacrifice, by which you could be restored, but only the fearful expectation of certain judgment. Thus, it seems that there can be no formula for “saved – lost – saved – lost – saved.” Conditional Security, it seems, is that if you are in Christ, then you are “perfected for all time.”
