# The death of death in the death of Christ



## Reformed Baptist (Aug 16, 2007)

hey all, 

I am just starting this work and began reading through Packer's intro last night. The following statement struck me as stronger than I typcially hear regarding the subject: 



> The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Owen Works, X:139:148) is a polemical piece, designed to show among other things, that the doctrine of universal redemption is unscriptural and destructive of the gospel.



Now, I understand this is Packer's words, but I respect him. Is this the general sense of the Reformers and modern Calvinists/Reformers that the doctrine of universal redemption is "desctructive of the gospel." I have heard individuals treat it as a mere difference of opinion. I will say that I tend to side with the stronger opinion here, but I wanted to know the the PB folks thought.


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## Timothy William (Aug 16, 2007)

Universal atonement is a very serious deviation from the Gospel. It takes away from our salvation being by the blood of Christ Alone. If Christ died for one who is ultimately damned, then those who are saved must be saved by something in addition to Christ's death.

Personal story - back before I was Reformed, though I was a very strong believer in Total Depravity, I had never even heard of Limited Atonement; it simply wasn't presented as an option. I was going through a very testing time in my faith, and I can remember being told by people, including pastors "just look to Christ, trust Him for your salvation." And I said "I would love to but I cannot, for I cannot trust his death fully to save me, for his death clearly does not, by itself, alone, save." My faith was, at the time, so weak that I put no store in it, but I could not look wholly to Christ. Actually, it was a very, very bad time for me spiritually, the effects of which are still being felt. I didn't derive Limited Atonement from that line of thought, but I did seize upon it gladly when I first heard it about a year later. So certainly if one tries too much analysis on Universal Atonement it will undermine their trust in the Gospel - until they chuck UA out and embrace LA.


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## puritan lad (Aug 16, 2007)

If you think that Packer's words were strong, wait until you get to Owen's actual writings. (I love it when he refers to 'free will' as "corrupted nature's deformed darling".)


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## A5pointer (Aug 16, 2007)

Any different gospel is *"desctructive of the gospel." * See how animated Paul became in Galatians.


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