Jesus, His bride, and Particular Atonement

 In the story of the sheep and goats, Jesus told of the division of the redeemed, whom He calls the sheep, from the wicked, whom He calls the goats. In the judgment, the king, i. e., Jesus, says to the redeemed, "Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34, emphasis added). This verse has great significance in the issue of the intention of the atonement. 

So, what is prepared? The kingdom, i. e., of God. For whom is it prepared? For the sheep, i. e., the redeemed. And when was it prepared? Before the foundation of the world. Each of these assertions by Jesus refutes the claims of the Arminian. The Arminian claims that predestination applies to the consequences of belief. That is, he says that God has predestined sanctification and glorification for whoever believes. No, Jesus says, He has predestined the very kingdom itself, which includes those things, as well as the faith by which they are applied. Every benefit purchased by Jesus on the cross has been prepared for those for whom He died. For whom? Jesus did not go to the cross not knowing for whom He would die. It was to be His sheep, not the goats (see also John 10:3-4, 26-27, and 17:2-3, 6). And when was that determination made? Before the foundation of the world. God did not wait upon the decisions of men to determine what Jesus would do on Calvary and for whom, and with what results.

This is no isolated teaching of Jesus. Paul tells us the same truths in Ephesians 1:3-13. What was predestined? "Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (verse 3). Predestined when? "Before the foundation of the world" (verse 4). Paul spoke in exactly the same words as Jesus! For whom? "For us" (verses 3, 4, 5), and "we" (verse 4). Who is "we"? The saints who are in Ephesus" (verse 1). Paul was not writing to people in general; rather, he was writing specifically and explicitly to Christians. The Arminian must ignore the grammar of the passage in order to make these verses apply to any hypothetical person without exception.

We can see here only that the atonement of Jesus was particular, that is, intended for particular people, the Church (Ephesians 5:25). The Arminian would have us believe that Jesus must wait until the Judgment to see who was saved by His blood, if anyone. No, Jesus knew His bride when He ascended to the cross, because the Father had told Him her name before the foundation of the world. Jesus then spent the next millennia, from the creation to the crucifixion, loving her in His heart, and longing for the day to arrive when He would purchase her redemption. No man could do that for a stranger, some hypothetical women whom he is yet to meet. But that is the marriage plan of the Arminian. No, Jesus loved her before she even existed. And as a Jewish father of the First Century would, God the Father had arranged His Son's marriage and prepared His bride for her wedding day.