What did Jesus accomplish on the Cross? How you answer that question says a lot about your theology. Because there are a great many people in the modern Church world, when you ask them, “What did Jesus accomplish on the Cross?”, are forced to say, “not much.” What did He accomplish? Well, The most that they might give Him, is they might say, “Well He paid the sin penalty for everybody who ever lived without discrimination, without any particularity. He paid for all the sins of everybody.” That’s what some folks will tell you. Then you say, okay, that’s great! That’s wonderful news! Good! That means that everybody is saved! Right? And they’ll say, “No, no.” They don’t even understand the internal dilemma of their own theology. Then you ask them, “How is it then that Jesus died for all the sins of everybody who ever lived; how is it that not everybody is saved?” And they’ll tell you, “Well, you have to believe.” In other words you have to add something to what Jesus started.

Sure He made salvation available. Sure He made salvation a possibility. But when you ask them, what did He accomplish? What did He actually do? They have to say, “Well, He did the beginning, but you have to come and do the rest. You gotta believe. You gotta exercise some kind of faith.” To which I am always prone to ask them, “So then you’re saying Jesus did not die for the sin of unbelief? You just said He died for all sins of all people. And then you said, ‘But you have to believe.’ Are you saying He did not die for the sin of unbelief? You better hope He did. I have not always believed, have you? I hope He died for the sin of unbelief. But if He died for the sin of unbelief, then why is it a requirement that you believe in order for Him to cover your sin of unbelief when He died for all the sins of all the people?” That’s the point at which those folks who normally respond, “Humanahumanahumanahumana.”

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- Jim McClarty, 2006 Sovereign Grace Bible Conference [mp3]

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