atonement – Grace Evangelical Society

Two Aspects of the Cross

January 1, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - atonement, Chafer, cross, limited atonement, unlimited atonement

I have started working in earnest on my next book. As a follow-up to Chosen to Serve, which dealt with the doctrine of election, my next book will show that both Limited Atonement and Unlimited Atonement should be rejected because they both (wrongly) assume the benefits of the cross come as a package. My questions

Redeemed From Futility (1 Peter 1:18-19)

June 25, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - 1 Peter, atonement, holiness, the cross

I am slowly chipping away on my book on the Free Grace alternatives to the five points of Calvinism and Arminianism. I’ve been working on the chapter about the atonement, arguing that it is neither limited nor unlimited but has different benefits for different people under different conditions. It’s so encouraging to read about the

A Free Grace Response to John Owen’s Conundrum

October 30, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Arminians, atonement, Calvinism, John Owen

This past spring was one of the wettest on record. That might be why we had tons of flies around the house. As the kids and the neighbors ran in and out of the house, those flies would get in. So we set an electric bug zapper on a kitchen counter to deal with the

We’re All Barabbas

June 20, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - atonement, Barabbas, substitution

One of my favorite novels is Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist, winner of the Nobel prize for literature. The novel imagines what happened to Barabbas after he was released: “He was about thirty, powerfully built, with a sallow complexion, a reddish beard and black hair. His eyebrows also were black, his eyes too deep-set, as though

The Different Benefits of the Cross: A Short Survey

May 8, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - atonement, cross

Calvinists and Arminians debate whether the atonement is limited or unlimited. My question is—what if that’s a false dichotomy? The big assumption made by both Calvinists and Arminians is that the atonement comes as a package of benefits. They claim that if one benefit applies to you, they all do because those benefits come as

Old Testament Sacrifices Did Not Come as a Package Deal

May 1, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - atonement, cross

In trying to rethink the debate between Calvinists and Arminians over the limited or unlimited nature of the atonement, I suggested we should rethink the assumption that the benefits of the cross come as a package deal. Maybe, just maybe, the cross has different benefits for different people, under different conditions. But is there any

The Big Assumption Behind Limited and Unlimited Atonement Theories

April 30, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - atonement, cross

Evangelical views of the atonement are broadly divided between two camps. Calvinists believe that Jesus died only for the elect. Hence, their view is popularly known as limited atonement, because the benefits of the atonement are limited to whomever God has predestined to be saved. Arminians believe that Jesus died for the world. Their view

The Benefits of the Cross: Actual or Potential?

December 11, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - atonement, cross

I was talking to a friend about the different views of the atonement in Free Grace circles. We came around to the issue of potentiality versus actuality. What did the cross actually accomplish? What did it potentially accomplish? I came up with an illustration for the differences of opinion that exist in Evangelical circles. Imagine