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    Please NOTE: In the Traditional "TULIP","L" stands for Limited Atonement. However, under closer examination of the actual doctrine, sophisticated Calvinism teaches unlimited payment for sins toward GOD (so GOD's Righteousness is not compromised), but LIMITED application to man, from the standpoint of Election (see my "P", below). You'll hear of the sophisticated Reformed or Calvinist call this "unlimited atonement, limited redemption": "limited" means limited to the elect, not a partial salvation.

    By contrast, the unsophisticated Calvinist, and the "TULIP" "L" mistake Atonement for salvation. which is why some contend that Christ only died for the "elect" (the "U" and "L" in this site explain why that saying is incorrect). Further, the parallel claim that somehow a Holy God is compensated by the suffering of the non-elect in Hell. Such a claim, needed to explain how only the elects' sins are paid, unwittingly denigrates God's Love and Holiness-- ah, God is a sadist? Really? Of course, no Calvinist means to say that....but the "L" in traditional TULIP says EXACTLY that. 'So, needs to be fixed! More in X.

    Limited Access to Salvation

    .."that whosoever believes in Him shall never perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16, corrected trans. from the Greek)

    LIMITED access to Salvation thus results.

    Everyone who has ever been or will be born has been given a lifetime's worth of rights to access salvation. God bends over backwards, so to speak, to make sure no one refuses Him -- He stops just short of coercion.

    Why a right of access, rather than automatic salvation? Because, as we saw under "U", agreement to the payment is required. God agreed, says Gal3:20(NASB). But, do we? That's the question. Hence, "access", as with a computer, means one must WANT access. Otherwise, the availability of access just sits there, like a computer cursor: click on the "yes", and you're "in".

    Calvinists don't understand that Adam's depravity affected his body, not his soul, for the body is material, and the soul can't be procreated. They thus can't tell, from Romans 5:12 (one of their favorite verses, and a true verse on man's depravity), that "depravity" is genetic. "Depravity" is a blind-brain signal constantly pinging, "me-be-good, merit-me, me-be-god", over and over: dementedly, dissociatively. This genetic program-run-amok (and the reason physical life terminates) results in man being constantly tempted. Temptation, though, is not sin; temptation is but a signal our congenitally-crazed brains send our souls. "Sin", by contrast, requires volition to agree, and volition remains free, because volition is a faculty of personhood, and the "person" is his soul, not his body. We saw all this in "T". So Calvinists depravedly conclude that man lost his immaterial free will as a result of Adam's "Fall" -- which loss is then procreated by sex(!), in all Adam's progeny. This, even though Calvinists KNOW it's laughable to claim the material can ever "beget" the immaterial. This, even though Calvinists KNOW that the human spirit never had volition in it, and even though they KNOW the human spirit was lost by Adam when he sinned.

    Don't you make that same mistake. Free will, and free will only, is the issue: do you want God, or not? It's not an issue of your sins; it's not an issue of your works; it's not an issue of any human factor, past, present or future. Do you click on the "yes" or not, at God's 'prompt' of the Gospel? If "yes", you're permanently saved, since you chose what GOD did for you. God won't force you to choose what He accomplished in Christ apart from your consent. To force you would be UnRighteous, Unloving, dishonoring to the terrible price Christ voluntarily paid on your behalf. It's up to YOU.

    Making that choice is a choice to "be reconciled to God", as Paul puts it in Timothy. "Reconciliation" is another Bible term. It's more commonly translated "peace", in English. "Peace", as in "no-more-war". Your "yes" concludes peace between God and you, by means of Christ. So, obviously, the choice is based on HIS merit, not yours. Why else would you believe in Him? You just agree. In that very second (per the ingressive aorist of 2Cor5:21's "become") you "become the Righteousness of God in Him." That is part of what the Bible calls your "redemption".

    The Bible uses the term "Redemption" to stress the result of salvation. "Ransom", "bought with a price" are synonymal terms. From these synonyms we can see what "redemption" means: we were kidnapped, enslaved, to sin (in our bodies). We are now, having clicked on that "yes" -- FREE! -- to live toward God. 2Cor5 is a beautiful chapter to read, as are Romans Chapters 5-8, on this topic.

    Technically speaking, Atonement is Unlimited, but Redemption is limited only to those who have been "reconciled" (believed in Christ). God is not satisfied with any other payment except Christ's. Christ is thus the High Priest and Mediator of Salvation (and of everything else: see the "S" subpage). So salvation is FULL, but of "limited access": limited to those who accept the Mediator's payment, just as God did (see Gal3:20, NASB). When you believe in Christ, that's a "yes" clicked on God's prompt of the Gospel. So, you are reconciled. So, you have accepted the Mediator. So, you are redeemed, free: Galatians 5 is a beautiful summary of this fact.

    If you're still having trouble with the above Bible terminology, go back to the Home Page and click on "Salvation Components" chart. Following the chart are the Bible's definitions of key salvation terms. (Using 1Jn1:9, you should be able to prove they are defined correctly by looking up every verse in the Bible with the term in it, and reviewing the context of every such verse.)

    "Mediator" is yet another term in the Bible. The flagship Bible book on Mediatorship is Hebrews, because "Mediator" is a central concept of the Old Testament's sacrifices (as illustrated by the Mercy Seat). Job 9:2,30,32-33; 1 Tim 2:3-6 ties in, as does Galatians 3, among other cites. It's a legal issue, that we need a Mediator between God (the Father) and ourselves, to be saved, and to live with Him forever. Christ is that Mediator. Hence, 'limited access' -- limited to Him.

      What is a "Mediator"? In the ancient world, a "mediator" was the person or country (often a king) who reconciled two or more warring parties (countries) so they could conclude and maintain peace. The "mediator" wasn't just some nice guy: he had clout. He had the power to ENFORCE the concluded peace upon the agreeing parties, should one of them later violate the peace terms -- for example, he could perhaps invade the violator and take over that whole country.

      Why a Mediator? Due to Total Depravity, we are in a state of hostility with God, from physical birth onward. We are thus positionally and, given the fact that we personally sin, we are also functionally at war with God. Romans 8, and 7, help explain the problem.

      So, we are warring parties: God, and mankind. As is true in any mediation, naturally, the warring parties would want to be very careful who was empowered to be mediator, since all sides would CHOOSE to be BOUND to the Mediator. ONE choice binds the parties irrevocably. It's legally binding. Until that ONE choice occurs, there is no mediation, and the war continues.

    What does it take for everyone to trust the Mediator, so to make such a momentous choice? Well, in the case of Christ, He has to be both God and Man: so, has the necessary "stake" in both sides, judicially speaking. (GOD-Man can be quickly described analogously to the fact that you are at least a soul and a body: the two can "talk" to each other but body is never soul, and vice versa.)

      Christ must be fully God, in order to be Mediator, because the Father is fully God, and to be Qualified as a Mediator, Christ must have the same Nature as the Father. You see His "Decision" to take on Humanity in 1 Tim 2:5. The Fact that He is God is stated repeatedly in Scripture. Phillipians 2:5-10 is fairly clear in English, if you understand that v.6's "thought it not robbery" (KJV) means He already WAS God, so He wasn't threatened in any way by adding Humanity to Himself; neither was His Humanity threatened, such that He'd need to 'grab' His Deity like a weapon.. or, a prize. (Other versions translate this phrase "thought it not gain", or the like.) For, the WORD was more important: the Truth is "always becoming"; the Truth "will always be becoming" (quotes from a Seder verse praising Him). Another passage folks use to show His Deity is John 1, so long as it's understood that "Word" is also an OT term for His Deity, stressing His Righteous Truth (cf Ps138:2, 89:14-15, compared to John1's Hebraisms and "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" passages in NT). My favorite passage is Hebrews Chapters 1 and 2. That passage also covers the fact of His Hypostatic Union: 'meaning, God-Man nature. God is Omnipotent. To "add" Humanity to Himself is easy. That He would want to do it -- THAT is hard to understand. It's His shockingly Righteous Love. (The more you seek to understand His Motive, the more you will "see" Him. The "seeing" never becomes boring.)

      Crux: how is the Mediator to be trusted if He is not EQUAL to God the Father? Of the same Nature, therefore of the same Thinking and Abilities to enforce? As Creator (cf Col1:16-18), Christ is sufficiently qualified -- co-Equal with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. However, since man is the one causing the offense which needs Atonement, This Mediator must also BE Perfect Humanity -- to both be qualified to pay the damages, and also to be qualified to MEDIATE the reconciliation. Hebrews' main theme is to review Mediatorship with Jewish believers. ('Many of whom had fallen back into Pharisaical Judaism, and needed the reminder -- for it was commonly known that Israel was soon to be destroyed, per Isaiah's "bilauw bilauw" prophecy.)

      In short, the Mediator must also partake of the nature of the warring party -- humanity. However, being the Payor, and Perfect, this One is thus GREATER than humanity, so obviously is also trustworthy in His Humanity, in the "eyes" of the Father -- to mediate the relationship without compromise to Righteousness.

    So, His Humanity may NOT use the Deity to provide anything toward the sacrifice. Humanity may not be compromised. If Humanity even once uses Deity to provide for Humanity, it would be a sin -- and there would be no salvation. This, because for Humanity to "call upon" Deity, as it were, to provide some personal benefit means that the Power of God the Holy Spirit would have been rejected. In short, the idea was "Do it the Father's Way" -- using the Holy Spirit -- or, fail. Even one usage would have been failure. If you look at Matt4, you'll notice that Satan was trying to get His Humanity to sin by accessing His Deity in a manner contrary to the Father's Plan. [Again, "if" in Matt4 should be translated "since", in English. If you were a Greek reader you wouldn't need to use different words to get the "since" meaning.]

      Notice how even learning would be excluded: no admixture of Attributes between the two natures could be allowed, lest Humanity be not-quite human. If not quite human, then payment for humans is not just: the one making the substitutionary payment MUST share the same nature as those being paid-for.

      Such a unique rule constitutes the very worst of pressures. Imagine being able to do anything at all, no matter how big, with a single thought! yet instead submit to the worst of torture, crushed like a worm (Ps22). Our closest analogy to such unique horror, which only His Happy Love overcame (Heb12:2+2Cor5:14-15), is the rule we are to refuse our 'power' to sin (a far smaller pressure): no matter what. Who of us could ever do that? No one.

      (As we know, He perfectly fulfilled this rule by not using His Deity to provide for Himself at any time whatsoever -- even while on the Cross! -- or we'd not even BE here to talk about it.)

      Therefore, He is qualified to be Mediator -- and, we can trust Him also because He paid our ransom (for war damages) on the Cross -- obviously, He loves us and wants us to go to heaven, since He paid for us to even BE born!

    So, one Mediator. So, Limited access, in the sense that He is the ONLY "Way, Truth, and Life: no one comes to the Father but by Me." Yet, ANYONE can be saved. Believing in Him is a simple act, which even a child or a primitive tribesman can do. And -- think -- if He went to so much trouble to pay for us, surely no unbeliever is allowed to die until he has rejected God and/or the Gospel many times! (God will not waste his time, or yours!)

      Also -- if the person's mentality is too low or too young, due to brain insufficiency Gospel can't be communicated without gerrymandering reality, so the person who dies in such a status is automatically saved (this, because Christ DID die for all). God is Fair.

    We know God's will about whether we are saved: "For God loved the world so much, that He gave His uniquely-born Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall never perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16, corrected trans from the Greek). and...

      "God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died as a substitute for us." (Romans 5:8, corrected trans from Greek)

    So, do we also choose to believe in the Mediator, in Christ's atoning work? If "yes", we are forever saved. For that "yes", is our password to salvation.


    ENDNOTE for people still confused about the Hypostatic Union (hit the "End" key if you don't want to read this section, and wish to skip to the next page).

    "Mediatorship", once understood, clears up a lot of confusion folks have about the Hypostatic Union. That Christ would be One Person of TWO full natures makes some folks scratch their heads, wondering, "Well, Divine Will is different from human will, isn't it?" The problem most folks seem to have is that they don't understand the meaning of "will". "Will" is "Will". Ability to want, or refuse. Will is an attribute of personhood. By itself, it has no quality, but is just an attribute. So Christ's Personhood consists of His Will, consciousness, etc. These personhood attributes are true whether God or man. However, Quality, by contrast, is measured by other attributes, and it's the quality issue which requires distinguishing between His Two Natures. That's why you'll see theologians make distinctions in what's usually called the doctrine of the "Community of Attributes" to show the interaction. They subdivide the doctrine into "Attributes of Deity", "Attributes of Humanity", and "Attributes true for the Whole Person" (for some reason, "Entire" is eschewed in the nomenclature). "Whole Person" Attributes being used are, for example, in Ps31:5 (last sentence He uttered on the Cross, in its entirety -- last two Gospels only reference it), and Heb10:5. Whole Person, but speaking from Deity, would be, for example, John 8:58; Whole Person, but speaking from Humanity, would be, for example, John 19:28. [Biblio note: 92SD,L1239.]

    This "community" structure really isn't so hard to understand. Deity is Deity; Humanity is Humanity. So Humanity, although capable of accessing Deity, is still Humanity. Kinda like how your body can send signals to your brain, and your brain, to your soul -- but the components, as it were, are all separate, still. So, Humanity's "will" is but a subset of the WHOLE Will of Christ, the God-Man Person. This structure makes His Life in 1st Advent the absolute hardest, for it was a constant option available, for Humanity to access Deity. Which, would have been for Him, a unique sin, had he accessed Deity contrary to the Father's Will at any time, awake or asleep.

    Omniscience is an attribute of Deity, never Humanity. So, when He's using His Omniscience, He's God. His Human knowledge, though, remained human. It's easier to understand this fact, when you realize that human knowledge is "smaller". It's not mingling. Attributes of Deity adhere to Deity, as it were; of humanity, to humanity. So: as a Whole Person, He never willed for His Humanity to access Omniscience for the benefit of His Humanity. In short, He kept on willing to shield His Humanity from Omniscience. He kept on willing from the "human side", as it were, to be unaware of that knowledge. It required Him, as a Whole Person, to keep willing that, 24 hours a day! That's why it was the worst of all pressures, to BE both God and Man. Satan was counting on leveraging that pressure into sin, in Matt4.

    It's very easy to overthink His Personal Structure. People become confused mostly because they are trying to get an understanding of how His Dual Nature functioned, and they can't fathom how He could compartmentalize His Awareness (i.e., keeping Omniscience away from the human "side"). The following analogies for how His Nature worked might help you, although all of them are incomplete metaphors. (It's actually harder to describe how His Dual Nature functions, than to understand how it works!)

      Here's the analogy which made me understand the Hypostatic Union. His "Will" is the 'hub', as it were, of ALL His Attributes, both Divine and Human. Each Attribute is connected, as it were, to Will. ONE Will, because One Person. He can will thus to use any attribute at any time. So the question was, would He will to use His Divine Attributes to help out His Human ones? See, a person can "will" without "looking" at one of his attributes. The other "attributes" respond to will, since will is the hub of personhood. And that's the danger! One slip of the "will" and it's all over -- for Christ. That's what Satan was angling for, in Matt4: to get His Human nature to will a use of a Divine Attribute. Which, since Christ is One Person, inseparably Divine and Human, was always possible! What a pressure, to keep restraining self from using such power!

      Another analogy: you know that you have a conscious mind, and an unconscious one. The latter you glimpse upon waking, if you remember a dream. Now, pretend that, instead of being UNABLE to access the unconscious, you had to keep willing to SHUT it out of your conscious mind. That's kinda like what He had to will for His Humanity's awareness: 24 hours a day.

      Another metaphor: His Humanity could have accessed the knowledge, but had to keep refusing to do so. Kinda like ignoring a continually-horrible pain.

      Another metaphor you can use to aid understanding: think of how you can cut off some desire or knowledge, in favor of something else. By an act of will.

    If you ponder this topic, you will gain the glory of seeing how truly magnificent is His Love, how truly magnificent is His Legacy to us. It takes time to understand His Structure. Many people have died over arguments as to how His Nature worked, so don't think yourself stupid for not "getting" it, right away. Use 1Jn1:9 -- that will greatly speed up the understanding process. Here's a sampling of some of the historical debates on His Nature:

    • Did Christ have Two wills? NO. Two 'natures' means something like two components-of-will, slightly analogous to two halves of the brain, so some denominations might explain the Will as "two" in a figurative sense only, to make clear One Person with Two Natures.

    • Was Christ somehow two Persons? Folks in the Middle Ages (if I recall correctly) came up with this goofy idea. Maybe they had no Bibles, for the Bible's description of Him is always ONE Person, ONE Will. Bible always describes "Will" as singular, because "Will" is an essential component of personhood, as we saw in "T". So, Christ is NOT Two Persons, but One, which the Bible says repeatedly. So, Christ has ONE Will, which Bible says repeatedly.

    • Somehow He wasn't really God until He finished His Work on the Cross. How does one "become" God? God has no beginning. Similarly, He didn't divest Himself of Godness, either, for God has no ending. Again, folks who believe this probably don't have Bibles, or don't know how to read their Bibles. Godness "adds" Humanity, never the other way around. God makes a tree. The tree is made, but is in addition to God, in the sense that the created tree has its own existence. So, it's not too hard to understand that God can bond His Godness to Humanity, is it? So, it's not too hard to understand that "God" never gets "subtracted" or "added", but rather the created thing is the addition/subtraction.

    • The famous Latin maxim, "non posse peccare+posse peccare=posse non peccare". Translated, it means "Not able to sin[Deity]"+"able to sin[Humanity]"="able NOT to sin{Humanity]". This formula was derived to explain how He could remain sinless. Unfortunately, it sounds like He used His Deity to enable His Humanity to stay sinless, which would have been cheating. That is NOT the intent of the maxim. Rather, its intent is to show why it is not evil to "add" humanity to Deity (to counter Judaic arguments).

    • Is God just One Person, and Christ's Godness is but a "manifestation"? Again, folks who can't read Bible too well get bolixed, here. So, use logic, then: if there was only One Person involved in the reception and judgement of sins, salvation is a sham, a shell game. It requires TRINITY for salvation to work: 1) Father imputing and judging; 2) Son having full God Powers of His Own to refuse at any time to do what the Father wanted; 3) Spirit enabling Son's Humanity to keep sinless, even on the Cross, without "cheating". Only TRINITY makes possible a full and free voluntary EXCHANGE OF GIFTS among Three Equals. Absent a full and free voluntary exchange, "salvation" is just so much propaganda. Think it over yourself.

    • Did His Deity bleed into His Humanity? No. Could/Did His Humanity have full access His Deity? Yes -- but He only accessed it for prescribed reasons the Father set up, which were non-bleeding (non-mixing): to keep the universe together, for example (the Person, Christ, had to keep on willing His Deity to hold the universe together -- Sovereignty is so total that God doesn't put anything on 'automatic pilot' and then 'forget about it').

    If you still have trouble understanding the Hypostatic Union, search for the "Fixes" link on the Home Page, click on that link, and then read ALL of the "Nature of God Topics" section. Or, from the Home Page, search for and click on the "Part II" link, then read that mammoth page (the page's end covers His Nature, but the background beforehand matters a lot).


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