Was Every Man Given to Jesus?

The bible establishes that the Father gave a people to Jesus Christ (John 6:37) and that Jesus Christ covenanted to save those people (John 17:2,11, 24). It follows that we stand to gain a great deal of understanding about the covenant of salvation by answering one simple question - Was every man given to Jesus? (wherein "every man" = "all of humanity") Based on the aforementioned covenant promises that Jesus Christ has entered into regarding this given people we should start with two observations.

• If every man was given to Christ, then Jesus did not fulfill his covenant promise to give eternal life to as many as the Father gave him, because it is evident that some men end up in hell. (Matthew 25:41)

• If every man was not given to Christ, then Jesus most certainly did not die for all of humanity (John 10:11,26), neither did he covenant to save all of humanity.

In my experience, when asked the question - "Did the Father give every man to Jesus?" - many Christians are quick to say, "Of course he did. The bible clearly teaches that Jesus tasted death for 'every man'." At first blush this reference to Hebrews 2:9 seems a formidable opposition, but a closer look at the context of those remarks is helpful in defining precisely what is intended by the phrase "every man" in that passage.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for EVERY MAN. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing MANY SONS unto glory, to make the captain of THEIR salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and THEY WHO ARE SANCTIFIED are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call THEM brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto MY BRETHREN, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and THE CHILDREN WHICH GOD HATH GIVEN ME. (Hebrews 2:9-13)

So when we take in the full context of that passage we see that the phrase "every man" is further defined as "many sons," "they who are sanctified," "my brethren," and "the children which God hath given me." In light of the fact that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and the fact that Jesus Christ promised to give eternal life to all that the Father gave him (John 17:2), and the unavoidable truth that some men end up in hell (Matthew 25:41) it follows that the Father did not give "every man" (i.e., all of humanity) to Jesus Christ in the covenant of salvation.

The Final Mix

In the final mix, salvation is a matter of covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-33) and either Jesus did what he promised to do or he didn't. Our view of Christ's covenantal work of salvation must be in keeping with these observations from scripture. It's really just that simple.

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