Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Meets weekly at 907 Hillsboro Boulevard, Manchester, TN, 37355. Currently, our church is without a pastor/elder and the members meet weekly for praise and worship in hymn, prayer, reading of Scripture, study of the word, and fellowship.
You’ve probably heard the pious sounding claim that “all men are equal at the foot of the cross.” The reality it seeks to portray is suspect, though there is a way in which we could consider the statement in another light. If “all men are equal at the foot of the cross,” speaks of God’s estimate of them based on the work of His Son, then this is nonsense and evacuates Christ’s death of its intrinsic power to save, for quite clearly, Scripture presents no such thing as universalism. If, however, the matter is one of our natural (fallen) condition in relation to God, then indeed all men are equal. But this equality has nothing to do with the cross. It has everything to do with sin. However you approach the question of “sin” it comes out the same way-we are all guilty. The reason that death spread to all men, according to Romans 5:12, is that all sinned. Here, the truth of universal guilt is made paramount as the discussion in Romans 5 centers on the reality of death, even prior to the law. Consider the dreaded reality of infant mortality. Such could not be the case if any of Adam’s seed were without guilt. So the teaching of Romans 5:12 is important for it shows not that we all sinned like Adam, but that we all sinned “in” Adam!!! Biblically, Practically, theologically, philosophically, socially, and any other “. . . .lly,” all show that every one without exception is guilty.
The cross, let it be said, tells another story. It is the effective work of the Son of God that redeems those whom the Father has given the Son. These are the many sons He will bring to glory. These are the sheep, for whom, the Shepherd lays down His life. These are the elect from before the foundation of the world. These are the recipients of His grace, which, leads to faith. These are the church made clean and spotless. And on and on the scriptures declare. God’s work in His Son, exhibited on the cross, was for His people and none other.
But I hear you say, “does not the work of Christ bring results for all people without exception?” After all, at the foot of the cross we are all equal. (You should be smiling at this point!!). That means that Christ redeemed everybody. If we take the theological discussion of this in Romans 5, we shall see that it cannot be. If Christ’s death is for all without exception, then necessarily all without exception will be saved. Romans 5, teaches corporate union in a representative head. “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all. In Christ’s death, his church has life breath.” Both Adam and Christ are federal heads of a representative body. What each does is binding absolutely on his subjects. What Adam did resulted in the guilt of “all” those he represented; likewise, what Christ did resulted in justification of life for “all” those He represented. There is no way to avoid this.
If the Bible really teaches that Christ died for everybody, then it evacuates that death of its power, if along with that, we reject universalism. It would naturally be non-saving in its efficacy. We would have to add to it for salvation to occur. If we wanted to retain its sufficiency to save then we could no longer reject universalism. Substitutionary atonement demands that for those whom Christ died, shall be made free. This is the unpopular, yet scripturally derived teaching on the cross. It saves! And so in the end, not all men are equal before it. It was intended for some and not for others. It was designed to redeem some and not others.
What bothers me more than the simplistic piety of many contemporary preachers, who make the sentimental affirmation that “all men are equal before the cross,” is that they are holding on to a theology that has been demolished throughout church history. Arminians and Open Theists continue to write and speak and preach as if Augustine, Gottshalk, Bradwardine, Wycliffe, Tyndale, Calvin, Owen, Gill, Edwards, and a host of other theologians had never existed. Who can the other side appeal to? Bring up a Pelagius; he was trounced by Augustine. Bring up a Wesley; He was demolished by Whitefield and Toplady. Bring up a Whitby; He was smashed by Gill. It is remarkable today that there are such preachers who are ignorant of the intricacies of theology as well as history, who continue to say, “all men are equal at the foot of the cross.” Nonsense!
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