Errors and Adjustments - Part 2 - "Is the World Already Forgiven in Christ?"

In my last article, I mentioned that I would continue to address commonly held errors within the evangelical church.  Again, these are not necessarily “heresies,” but rather wrong ideas, “pet doctrines,” and inaccurate explanations of biblical truths.  Although not damnable heresies, they are errors nonetheless and should be seen as such, and thus, abandoned.

The errors which I have addressed, and will address, have a common theme: they each pertain to the topic of the forgiveness of sins.  I wrote a previous article addressing the idea as to whether or not our present and future sins are already forgiven, and showed this position to be incorrect.  My last article dealt with the belief that God forgets our former sins, and can literally remember them no more.  This too was shown to be absurd.  This article will as well deal with another commonly held error regarding the forgiveness of sins.  The error to be addressed sounds like this:

“The world is already forgiven through Jesus Christ- they only need to accept it”…   “When Jesus prayed, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’ the whole world was forgiven”…   “Because all men have already been forgiven, the only sin that can now send them to hell is the rejection of Christ”…  

Where do I start?  Not only are these ideas commonly held, but they are confidently asserted to be an essential part of the Gospel!  It may come as a shock to many to hear that the above statements are entirely false, are indeed error, and that they which declare these things are greatly mistaken.

I will begin with the first statement.  It is entirely wrong to assert that the whole world is already forgiven in Christ.  This is to say that men are forgiven before they repent, and even before they are saved!  Now if men are already forgiven before salvation, what need have they of salvation?  If they are forgiven before repentance, what need have they of repentance?  Indeed what then is salvation, if men are forgiven of sins before ever experiencing it?  Is not salvation very simply defined as the forgiveness of, and the deliverance from sin?  Thus, they which say these things essentially assert that men are saved before they are saved!

Now someone may object to my statements by arguing that those which assert that the world is already forgiven in Christ also assert that the world must accept this forgiveness for it to become a reality.  To this I say, that forgiveness either is, or is not.  It has either occurred or it is yet to happen.  To say that forgiveness has already happened, yet needs to be accepted to become reality, is to say that in truth it has not occurred. It is to say that God has forgiven men, but should they fail to accept this truth, they shall in the end ultimately have their forgiveness revoked. 

But forgiveness is a divine act.  If God has forgiven, then nothing can alter this act.  If the world is already forgiven in Christ- an act which would have occurred apart from any action on its part- then it would follow that any actions subsequent to that act would in truth have no bearing upon it.  Hence, as I have stated in a previous article, if men are already forgiven before repentance, faith, and submission, it is unnecessary that they offer any of these, for God has already granted forgiveness apart from these actions.

Do they which say these things perhaps wish to convey that provision for the forgiveness of the sins of world has already been made, rather than that the world is actually already forgiven?  Perhaps some do, but many more actually mean what they say.  If one simply wishes to convey the “good news” that God has already made provision for the forgiveness of the sins of the world, would he not be better off saying exactly that?  Indeed, God has made provision for the forgiveness of the sins of the world, but to say that the world is already forgiven in Christ is simply to state that which is not true.

Now on the heels of this particular error follows the next error as well.  For they which assert these things also declare that “because the world is already forgiven, there remains only one sin whereby men can be damned- the rejection of Christ.”  But if men are already forgiven of their sins through Christ, then not even the rejection of Christ would undo that which was already accomplished on their behalf.  Are they forgiven or not?  If so, then they are forgiven- period.  But if they must meet certain conditions to ultimately possess the forgiveness which is said to have already occurred, then it is clear that they are not in truth already forgiven.

In addition, the Bible clearly shows that men are damned for a variety of sins, not only for rejecting Christ.  To be sure, the rejection of Christ is the greatest of the sinner’s transgressions, and is that which seals his damnation, but to say that it is the only sin whereby men are condemned is incorrect.  I could quote many passages of Scripture which list various sins responsible for causing men to “not inherit the kingdom of God,” to be “worthy of death,” to be considered “the children of wrath,” and to finally “have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.”  And in these passages, the sin of rejecting Christ is not mentioned as the cause of the sinner’s condemnation, but rather his adulteries, fornications, lies, drunkenness, sorceries, murders, uncleanness, etc., are set forth as that for which he is condemned.  

Now this idea that the sins of the world have already been forgiven in Christ, from where does it come?  For certain, they which assert this view often refer to Christ’s prayer upon the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  This verse they frequently quote in support of their belief that the world was forgiven at the time of Christ’s death.  It is frequently stated that “Jesus never prayed a prayer that was not answered,” and thus, “when He prayed the whole world was forgiven.”

But this is not a proper treatment of this verse at all.  It assumes that Christ’s prayer was offered on behalf of the whole world- for those present, for those not present, for those living and for those yet to be born.  Yet there is no clear evidence to support this assumption.  I acknowledge that by extension his prayer has an application to all men throughout all ages, for it exhibits so wonderfully the love, grace and forgiveness of Christ, which indeed is directed toward the whole world.  But specifically, his prayer was offered on behalf of his persecutors who were responsible for his crucifixion.  It was offered on behalf of the chief priests, elders, Pharisees and scribes- who condemned him, mocked him and spit upon him- for the Romans also who abused him, who carried out his death sentence, and gambled for his clothing.  These are they of whom it may properly be said “they know not what they do”- for none of these knew that the Man whom they hated and condemned was indeed the Son of God.  They did not know that they crucified God Incarnate.

For in truth, the words “they know not what they do,” cannot be properly applied to all sinful men throughout history-  for the Scripture asserts that sinners in fact “do know what they do,” in that they do the very things that their own consciences condemn.   And you, beloved, might know this to be true, for if in your times of confession of sin, you have been so bold as to declare to God that your sinful actions were the result of “knowing not what you do,” you have found that you received none of the grace that you sought- a testimony of just how those words of Christ indeed do not apply to every sinner!

Now the logic often employed when treating this text is also faulty.   The common argument that “Jesus never prayed a prayer that was not answered,” and thus, the whole world was of necessity at the time of his prayer forgiven, is in truth flawed.  Firstly, it is flawed, because as I have stated, it is based upon the assumption that the prayer of Jesus was offered on behalf of all men for all time.  Secondly, it does not at all take into account that which Christ intended by the words, “Father, forgive them.”  In their haste to proclaim “all the world’s sins already forgiven,” those who argue thus fail to realize that forgiveness, in the sense of “sins remitted,” “debts cancelled,” and “fellowship restored,” was not granted by God, nor intended by Christ.  I agree that Christ never prayed a prayer that was unanswered, thus, we should not take the words forgive them to mean “pardon them,” “cancel their debts,” “wipe their slate clean,” etc. - for truly, Christ’s persecutors were not pardoned, did not have their debts cancelled, nor was their “slate wiped clean.”  

Are we to think that the impenitent Jews and Romans responsible for the crucifixion of the Son of God will never have to answer for this, their most horrific of all transgressions, because of this particular prayer for forgiveness?  Will not this sin above all other sins torture their consciences throughout eternity?  Are we to think that in the depths of hell they will have some solace in knowing that they were forgiven for crucifying the Lord?  Certainly, this cannot be so.   

So how should we understand the words, Father, forgive them?  We should understand them to mean, “Father, do not hold this sin against them, do not let this sin be that which seals their damnation.  Do not let this sin be that which determines their fate.”  In the grace of Christ, He did not wish his persecutors harm, and did not want their foul treatment of him to be the occasion of their final rejection from God.  This prayer was indeed answered abundantly, for God continued to extend to them the opportunity for repentance with the offer of forgiveness through the preaching of the apostles.

Now if the persecutors of Christ, who were specifically intended in his petition, were not pardoned, did not have their debts cancelled, and thus were not ultimately forgiven, how then can men declare that the whole world, which was not intended in this prayer, is as a result of this prayer already forgiven?  Indeed, they have no firm ground upon which they build their theory, but rather they stretch and reach to grasp for what they desire to be true, but what indeed is not.  It is this kind of approach toward Scripture which fosters all manner of doctrinal error. 

In conclusion, the concept of sins having already been forgiven, as I have stated above and in previous articles as well, is absurd.  What is to be gained by imagining such things?  It seems that believers are all too willing to allow their imaginations and speculations regarding the forgiveness of sins to become established as doctrine.  Sadly, it seems that there exists an appetite within the church for these speculations and interpretations as well, which are neither supported by the Scripture nor common sense. 

But let it not be said of us that we lack sense and reason in our approach to biblical truth.  God gave us a mind to think, and to think logically, and thus it would serve us well to employ our minds a little more. Perhaps a little more reason would deliver us from the multitude of errors so commonly accepted as truth, and as well, adjust our theology to more effectively explain biblical truth.