1 John 2:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
I already explained this one multiple times. Of all who would be atoned for; Christ is the only one who will atone for them. (The buyer of the stoves example.) Just because He is the payment for sin (which is what propitiation means) does not mean He paid for all sin. (He didn't purchase "every stove on the market".)
We know this because the Scripture further defines who are atoned for. (The elect.) This is why we are to interpret it by comparing it to itself. God penned the Scripture in such a way that the slothful get caught on such things because Christ is a "stumbling block" to the "Jews" (religious people).
Proverbs 25:2
It is the
glory of God to conceal a thing: but the
honor of kings is to search out a matter.
You are suppose to be like the Bereans; (those who search the Scriptures to see if these things are so).
Proverbs 18:13
He that
answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame unto him.
Romans 11:32
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Now what is the context of this verse? Prior to this verse; Paul is speaking of those Jews who are "broken off" because they are in a state of unbelief. He speaks of the possibility that they could be grafted back in; if they are elect, they will come to faith. But as they stand in their disobedience now they are "broken off".
So if you look really carefully at this passage; it's not actually speaking of universal sin as in "In Adam all die..." It is speaking of those whom God has elected being chosen, yet not based on a genetic lineage. The Jew is just as guilty of sin as the gentile, even though he is the recipient of the Old Testament Scripture (as "touching the election for the sake of the fathers / patriarchs"). So this Scripture is declaring that the Jew is on equal footing with every other "kindred, tribe, tongue and nation"; although acknowledging that the Jew has received more revelation than any other "kindred, tribe tongue and nation". The unbelieving Jew "touches the elect" because that revelation given was actually revealed for the benefit of the elect; since because "the elect" are elect, they are the only one's who will respond to that revelation.
Now in this verse the definitive article is in front of the "all". "All of the some of the parts" is now all "had mercy upon". The greater context of this passage speaks of how the gospel goes now to the gentiles. So the revelation of written Scripture is no longer confined to just the Jew. Something has changed.
Paul is the disseminator of the "dispensation of times". He is the new "house steward" of the gospel; being the "apostle to the uncircumcision". Peter is the "apostle to the circumcision". One of the things the death of Christ established is that these two groups would be reconciled as "one body" by His sacrifice. They are no longer separate but one; this is the "tearing down of the middle wall of partition" between them.
Also, "all have mercy upon" does not automatically equate to "all have been atoned for". The "mercy" this passages speaks to is the dissemination of the revelation of Scripture to the "all" of humanity. That "mercy" is defined in terms of the fulfillment of the covenant. Christ fulfilled what had been given to the Jew; so now revealed Scripture is given to "the all".
Cognate: 1653 eleéō – to show mercy as
God defines it, i.e. as it accords with His truth (
covenant) which expresses "God's covenant-loyalty-mercy" (i.e.
acting only on His terms).
See 1656 (
eleos).
Romans 5:18-19
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
"all" Strong's #3956
3956 pás –
each,
every; each "part(s) of a totality" (
L & N, 1, 59.24).
3956 /pás ("each, every") means "all" in the sense of "each (every) part that applies." The emphasis of the total picture then is on "one piece at a time."
365 (
ananeóō) then focuses on the
part(
s) making up the whole – viewing the whole
in terms of the individual parts.
[When
3956 (
pás) modifies a word with the definite article it has "
extensive-intensive" force – and istraightforward
intensive when the Greek definite article is lacking.]
There's no definitive article stressing the "all" in this verse.
The "sum of the parts" of humanity is "every kindred, tribe, tongue and nation". God has elected individuals from "every kindred, tribe, tongue and nation"; that's what ".... justification and life for
all people" means.
"People" in this verse is "anthorpos" which is collective humanity. This is where we get our term "anthropology" from. (The study of humanity.)
Again, just like
John 3:16; "for God so loved the cosmos...." He did not inspire the authors to use the word "inhabitant". The same could be said for this verse. It does not say "...justification and life for all inhabitants of the earth"; which would have entailed the whole of all individuals.
The Holy Spirit is very crafty in how the Scripture is written. You need to pay attention to that or you will be in error!
Colossians 1:20
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
"...all things..." Strong's # 3956 (see above verse).
The "parts" of "all things" that He came to reconcile; be they in heaven or on earth have been "made to be at peace" through His blood.
1 Timothy 2:3-4
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, (4) who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
"..... all people...." Strong's # 3956 (see above verse).
"anthropos" - The "parts" of all humanity. Again, the Holy Ghost did not instruct the writers to use the Greek word "world" which means "inhabitance of the earth". This verse could just as easily been written:
This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all the inhabitance of the earth to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
The verse doesn't say that though.
Luke 3:6
And all people will see God’s salvation.
The Greek word in this passage isn't "anthropos" or "inhabitance", or "cosmos" for that matter. It's actually the word "flesh". (Strong's # 4561) "All flesh will see God's salvation. This makes contextual sense when you include the verses before it; which opens with the appearance of John the Baptist in the wilderness.
Luke 3:
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
(2) Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
(3) And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
(4) As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
(5) Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways
shall be made smooth;
(6) And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
This jives with the fact that the creation is covered as part of the atonement. Thus "For God so loved the cosmos....".
1 Corinthians 15:22
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
This verses is constructed as: ".... in (the) Adam all die; so in (the) Christ all will be made alive."
The "the" in the passage is connected to "Adam" and "Christ"; not to the "all". This makes doctrinal sense in relation to the incarnation, because Christ was not a descendent of Adam. He was a descendent of Eve.
Adam bore a physical seed; which gave birth to all of humanity except Christ. When Adam sinned; all his seed (that would come to pass) died.
Where as Christ bears a spiritual seed. Which are those He "fertilizes" via the Holy Ghost. That is only possible because He paid for their sin and He paid for their sin because they had been foreordained to that election from the foundation of the world. This is why Jesus never procreated in the flesh.
So you have to keep this verse in context of regard of the "seed" of whom.
Now the "all" (still Strong's #3956) still applies to "every kindred, tribe, tongue and nation". What did that "all" inherit in their "seed giver" Adam? (Death). What do those who inherit spiritual seed from Christ get? (Quickening from the dead.) That's what the phrase "made alive" means. Those that are "made alive" are "quickened" from spiritual death.
So not only is this defined by "who's seed"; it's defined by which "death" and which "life". "All" receive physical life in Adam, as part of the natural process of "be fruitful and multiply". And thus by his sin; all also receive death.
Christ on the other hand is "picky" about where His "seed" goes. That is only to "His bride". There are those who are not "His bride". Scripture is clear about that. So, in the parabolic witness given to us in the physical world, there was only one Adam and one Eve created; whereas there were multiples of all other types of life created.
