Did Christ die for all sin except for the sin of unbelief?

But we must guard against a misapprehension which has obtained in some quarters, that now unbelief is the only sin of which men stand guilty before God. Surely in a world reeking with every form of iniquity, it will hardly be necessary to deny this. The argument is, that when our Lord died, He bore and put away all sin, that God does not look upon men as sinners because of what they have done, but simply because of their rejection of Christ.

Surely when the Spirit of God now convicts of sin He does not do less than He did before the cross. The rejection of Christ does not obliterate but emphasizes every other sin committed. Here is a possible atonement for heinous sins: the atonement is rejected and this makes the sins all the more heinous. In the final judgment, the books are opened, in which the record of the life has been kept. The book of life is also opened, and thus we see men are judged both for what they have committed and for their unbelief.

Christ is above in all His grace. Righteousness remains in all its undiminished worth; and so does the propitiation through His blood. It is the joy and boast of the Christian that nothing touches either the risen Christ or the efficacy of His work on the cross for us. If the earth is blind and deaf, heaven never forgets what these are for God's glory and our purification. Only here we have another thing to observe. The apostle says that the propitiation of Christ is not for our sins only. It is also "for the whole world." Now we never find the propitiation for sins, except definitely for those that believe, as of old; now for those that are God's children. Christ is a propitiation in a general way for the whole world, but only "for our sins." There is a marked distinction, when he speaks of the whole world. This makes the putting in of "the sins" objectionable, when the world is in question. It is going beyond Scripture. If the Lord had been the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, the whole world would get its fruit and go to heaven. If He bore their sins in the way He bore ours, what has God against them? He is the propitiation for our sins; He has annulled them for ever, blotting them out with His blood. Were it thus for the world, it would stand clear.

The evangelist cannot go and tell every creature that Christ died as his substitute, but he can tell him that He died as a propitiation; and when, through grace, the soul believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he can learn the further calming truth that He died as a substitute and bore all his sins in His own body on the tree. See Hebrews 9:28, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” — all His people. In verse 26 we read, “He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Christ is never said to have borne the sins of the world. It is utterly false doctrine; it is universalism. He bore the sins of His people, and He has done a work in virtue of which every trace of sin shall yet be abolished throughout the wide universe of God.

287 Now this is another thing. Christ is both high priest and victim, has confessed all the sins of His people as His own, and borne our sins in His own body on the tree. The two goats are but one Christ; but there is the double aspect of His sacrifice, Godward, and bearing our sins. The blood is the witness of the accomplishment of all, and He is entered in not without blood. He is the propitiation for our sins. But in this aspect the world comes in too. He is a propitiation for the whole world. All has been done that is needed. His blood is available for the vilest, whoever he may be. Hence the gospel to the world says, "Whosoever will, let him come." In this aspect we may say Christ died for all, gave Himself a ransom for all — an antilutron peri panton, an adequate and available sacrifice for sin for whoever would come — tasted death for every man.

319 Now this is another thing. Christ is both high priest and victim, and has confessed all the sins of His people as His own, borne our sins in His own body on the tree. The two goats are but one Christ, but there is the double aspect of His sacrifice, Godward, and bearing our sins. The blood is the witness of the accomplishment of all, and He is entered in not without blood. He is the propitiation for our sins. But in this aspect the world comes in too. He is a propitiation for the whole world. All has been done that is needed. His blood is available for the vilest whoever he may be. Hence the gospel to the world says, "Whosoever will, let him come." In this aspect we may say Christ died for all, gave Himself a ransom for all, an adequate and available sacrifice for sin, for whoever would come - tasted death for every man.

Being the Godward aspect of His death the widest possible circle is in view — "the whole world." When the substitutionary side is stated believers only are in view: it is "our offences," or, "the sins of many." But though only believers stand in the realized benefits of the death of Christ, God needs to be propitiated in regard to every sin that ever has been committed by men, in regard to the whole great outrage which sin has wrought. He has been thus propitiated in the death of Christ, and because of this He can freely offer forgiveness to men without compromising in the smallest degree one feature of His nature and character.

It does not. It quite authorizes us to go to any man and tell him that Christ has died for him, and consequently forgiveness is preached to him (Acts 13:38). This we can do because as a propitiation He gave Himself "a ransom for all," He died "for the ungodly." The forgiveness of sins, however, is the portion of those who believe only, inasmuch as it involves substitution.

Forgiveness may indeed be freely preached to all men, but only those who believe are forgiven.

In connection with this care is needed, for it is very easy here to speak unscripturally. Nowhere are we authorized by Scripture to speak of Christ dying for the sins of everybody in the sense that He was everybody's substitute. On the other hand, we are nowhere authorised to limit the bearing of His sacrifice viewed as propitiation. In this connection its scope is nothing less than the whole world.

The gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus is offered in perfectly good faith to all mankind. Christ is "the propitiation for our (believers') sins, and not for ours only, but also for (the sins of) the whole world" (1 Jn. 2:2). As the propitiation, Christ is the one who has by His great sacrifice fully satisfied God in regard to the question of man's sins, and the value of that sacrifice is fully avaliable for all who will receive it: it is not limited in any way. Those who refuse it will have only themselves to blame for the judgment they fully deserve. lf they could not believe, it was because they would not. As we have before seen, man is fully responsible to God, and one must receive salvation in God's way or be lost.

These two truths are again connected with the value of the sacrifice of Christ. Both are most precious and both are distinct. 1 John 2:2 is a clear declaration of the first, "He (Jesus Christ) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. "The Lord Jesus Christ, by His great work of suffering for sins, the Just for the unjust, is Himself the propitiation who perfectly vindicates and satisfies God in regard to the question of sin. His sacrifice is sufficient to enable God to receive and forgive every sinner under heaven who will receive the Lord Jesus Christ is not only the propitiation "for our sins" (those of believers), but also for the whole world. He died because of the sins of all mankind. The expression "not for ours only" clearly indicates that propitiation is for the sins of others too, that is, those of the whole world.