One of the things that struck me having some 40 years of
reading the Doctor’s wonderful sermons, was the fact that I never found him
anywhere preaching the high Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement. If there are people reading this book who can
show me where Dr Lloyd-Jones taught this idea, I’d be very interested. But I have not found it in any of his
published sermons. I was a bit worried
about this because the assumption was that he actually held this doctrine and
believed it. But nowhere have I read
this in any of his published sermons.
The facts are otherwise. For
example, when Dr R. T. Kendal, one of Lloyd-Jones' successors, was minister in
Westminster Chapel in London, he had contact with Dr Lloyd-Jones while the
former was working on his doctorate, and sought his views on John Calvin’s theology
of the atonement. Dr Alan C Clifford, in
his book on Philip Doddridge, The Good Doctor, (Charenton Reformed Publishing,
Norwich, 2003:273, 274), states that when Dr Lloyd-Jones conducted his own
examination of Calvin’s commentaries, he expressed surprise in finding “how
frequently universalistic Calvin’s statements were.” During a two-week period, Dr Lloyd-Jones
phoned Dr Kendal repeatedly, and in excited tones, exclaimed, “I’ve found
another one!” During one such discussion
with Kendal, referring to the doctrine of limited atonement, he confessed, “I
never preached it, you know … only once on Rom.5:15 and I was in great
difficulty when I did so.” Mrs Bethan
Lloyd-Jones was present when he said this to Kendal, and interjected, “I have
never believed it and I never will.” Dr
Lloyd-Jones was quite clear on this particular theological point.
In addition, please read these statements, in his own words, which make the opposite case, also taken from my book:
12. “Well, what was
that gospel? Just this, that Jesus Christ,
is the Son of God, that in dying He cancelled the power of sin and wiped out
the sinful debt of humanity and that by the power of the His Spirit a man can
be created anew and start upon a new life which is an eternal life.” (63).
13. “Some appear as
if they had never done any wrong, as if they had no need to repent and had no
need for Christ to die for them on Calvary.”
(85).
14. “But look at His
death for a moment and consider it as an expiation for the sin of the whole
world.” 87).
15. “Well, those
sufferings were enough, according to John, for all. Listen!
‘He is the propitiation for our sins; but not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world,1 Jn.2:2.’
The whole world!” (88).
16. “But listen to
the words of our Lord Himself as He calls from the cross, ‘It is
finished’. The sins of the whole world
He had borne upon Himself …” (88).
17. “The sacrifice
was completed. It was indeed finished,
once for all, world without end!”
(88).
47. “Yes! God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, Jn.3:16.” (198).
48. “...this great
salvation that is offered to us by God is to the natural man something which is
inherently incredible.” (201.
49. “In view of the
fact that salvation is of God and therefore supernatural, although we cannot
understand it, it holds out a hope for all. … There is literally hope for
all. ...It is God’s work, and because it
is God’s work, it is possible for all and can be offered to all. ...There is literally hope for all.” (203).
51. “...there He was
in the house of Simon, full of power, yea more, full of love to mankind which
made Him long to exercise and use that power for their welfare.” (206).
53. “Listen to Him as
He tells you that He has died for you, that He has reconciled you to God, that
your past can be blotted out, and that your eternal future is safe.” (221).
54. “The great point,
surely, is that there is hope for all, that God’s love extends even to the
publicans and sinners.” (227).
55. “What new hope
for mankind appeared in Him!”
(228).
58. “The love of God
does not merely talk about a new beginning, it makes a new beginning. ‘God so loved the world that He gave.’” (237).
59. “…realise that
this is the very Son of God come to earth to deliver us.” (250).
60. “They follow
Christ solely to serve their own ends, and not because He is the Son of God,
and the Saviour of the world.”
(264).
62. “It is there [in
the Christ of the cross] that the whole of humanity is focused. He is the representative of the whole of
humankind. He died for all.” (278).
74. “He had met the
God who was offering him pardon for his failure, who assured him that he would
place his hand upon him, who gave him there a vision of his own future as the
father of the nation, the father ultimately of our Lord Jesus Christ who was to
be the Saviour of the world.” (31).
75. “…God in his
infinite love had actually sent his only begotten Son into the world to live
and die and rise again in order to make a way of salvation and in order that
God might reconcile the world to himself.”
(47).
76. “He came to die
for our sins and to open the door of heaven for us.” (83).
77. “We shall not die
because he has died for us and accomplished a perfect atonement in our
behalf.” (84).
78. “The Saviour of
the world was not born in Jerusalem, he was born in Bethlehem.” (124).
79. “They did not
know it but the Saviour of the world was about to come into their very
midst.” (124).
80. “…go to the Jesus
of Nazareth, the Son of God and you will be cured. He can remove your guilt because he has
already taken it away.” (127).
81. “Go to Him, that
is all you have to do, He is the all-sufficient Saviour, He is ‘the power of
God unto salvation unto everyone that believeth,’ Rom.1:16.” (127).
Now, on the basis of these statements, most of which were taken from his evangelistic sermons where he was speaking to unsaved sinners, did he believe in limited atonement as understood by Owenites? Assuredly not. He believed that Christ died effectually for the elect but sufficiently for the whole world.
In other words, no matter who or what the person is, if he believes in Christ, he will be saved.
