Acts 3:26
Acts 3:26 (see also Acts 17:30)
“For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
Question: In what sense was Jesus sent to “bless”?
Answer: Reasonably, it was not for the purpose of
bestowing Common Grace, but Atoning Grace, in
the form of a universal provision for redemption,
through which, Christians are able to present a
universal offer of salvation.
To a Calvinist, all that we may glean from this passage is that God desires all men to repent and turn from their wicked ways, though only those whom He has chosen by Elective Grace, are effectually drawn to Him, by means of His gracious work of unconscious and involuntary Regenerative Grace. Nevertheless, however a Calvinist may wish to dress it up, the fundamental principle lacking on their side, is recognition of the fact that Jesus was “sent” to “bless” (Acts 3:26), and by blessing, it is not for the purpose of bestowing Common Grace, or just to send rain, but to bless with a salvific purpose, that is, a focus towards the provision of redemption at Calvary, and thus, having spoken with redemption in mind, with “every one” in view, indiscriminately, both collectively and distributively, the provision of Calvary must also, correspondingly, include “every one” indiscriminately, both collectively and distributively. Furthermore, the whole discussion of a Limited Atonement is pure folly, since you cannot indiscriminately offer Jesus as the Savior for a lost world, unless Calvary was indiscriminately provided for a lost world. Otherwise, what would be the purpose of telling someone to repent, if they have no Savior for which to receive such repentance?
John Calvin: “Christ came to bless the Jew first and then, secondly, us. He has undoubtedly done this, and we will fee the effects of this in ourselves unless we are stopped by unbelief.” (Acts: John Calvin, The Crossway Classic Commentaries, p.59, emphasis mine)
Question: “Us” who? Calvinism’s elect? Who then?
Answer: Certainly Christ did not come to give mere rain. He came to be the Savior, and to be the Savior of the world: “I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.” (John 12:47) That’s how He came to “bless you.” This is personalized. This is for “you,” and not just you, despite what the exclusivists would say. But it should also be pointed out that the blessing is a free gift, and a free gift can be received or rejected. Just because God offers the world the free gift of salvation, does not mean that it will be universally accepted, as most have rejected it. Yet, God, for His part, is willing. Scripture says so. Calvinists have to use contradictory, dual-willed secrecy theories in order to work their way around Scripture.
