PURPOSE
Jesus Christ was benevolent in that he was disposed to do good (Rom. 5:6-8). He performed miracles (Matt. 8:14-15; Mark 1;21-27; Luke 4:31-36; John 2:1-11, 4:43-54; and many more), transformed lives, and performed healings (Acts 10:38). He lived a perfect life (2 Cor. 5:21) and died on the cross (Matt. 20:28; 1 John 2:2; 1 Pet. 2:24). He spread the Word of God (Heb. 1:3). He was compassionate, good (Acts 10:38), loving (1 John 4:10), and merciful (Eph. 2:1-22). Jesus showed human kindness (Eph. 3:7). But He did not come for the purpose of doing these things. These were the means by which he accomplished his real end.
He came to seek (Luke 19:10), redeem (Rom. 6:10; 1 John 4:10), and save (John 3:17) lost sinners (Luke 19:10, 1 Tim. 1:15). That was his purpose. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” The apostle Paul, writing in 1 Timothy 1:15, said, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
WHOM
The author talks about this in the previous article but wants to make it clear that Jesus died only for the elect, the Christians, not every human being who ever lived on earth.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 20:28 that “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He did not come to give his life as a ransom for the sins of every human being but for ‘many.’ This is indicated in the text of the Bible, which suggests that Jesus came to save the Elect, the Chosen, not every human being. He did not come to save the world (i.e., every human being on earth) but to save the Elect, the chosen ‘many’ that God chose in the beginning to choose Jesus and the Plan of Salvation.
In many places in the Bible, ‘many’ are referred to as the chosen ones, believers, Christians, the Body of Christ, the church, the saints, new creations, those who have been born again, and more. The persons that will be saved are Christians, no matter what they are called in the text of the Bible.
CONCLUSION
Jesus came to save, redeem, and save lost sinners. The acts He performed and the characteristics he exhibited were His means of accomplishing His purpose.
God the Father chose many things and people for specific purposes. However, when it came to His Plan of Salvation, He chose the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to be the Surety for the Elect, and He chose the Elect from the beginning to be the ones who would choose Jesus and the Plan of Salvation.
The Elect of God are those whom God chose in the beginning before any human was created, and He predestined them to fulfill the Plan of Salvation. The Elect does not mean every human being created, but only those whom God chose and predestined from the beginning.
The Elect are referred to by various names in the Bible, including believers, the church, the body of Christ, the saints, those who have been born again, etc. But all of these are Christians. The Elect and everything the Elect are called are Christians, those who believe in the life and works of Jesus Christ.
