The Gospel is NOT a Well-Meant Offer of Salvation to All of Humanity

Primitive Baptists do not believe that the gospel is a well-meant offer of salvation to all of humanity (WMO). The primary reason is because the atonement was both explicitly substitutionary (Isaiah 53:5) and utterly effectual (Hebrews 10:14). By explicitly substitutionary we mean that the Lord Jesus Christ died for a particular people (John 10:11), chosen before the foundation of the world in the covenant of election (Ephesians 1:4-5) and none other in any way shape or form (John 10:26). By utterly effectual we mean that Jesus Christ met all of the conditions of the covenant of salvation and that all of God's children will be in glory with God based on the work of Jesus Christ on their behalf plus absolutely nothing else. (Colossians 2:10)

What does Paul Mean When He Refers to "Saving Some" in I Corinthians 9:22?

For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. (I Cor 9:19-22)

What does Paul Mean by "Saving Some"?

In a recent dialog with a fellow believer I was asked:  What does Paul mean in I Corinthians 9:19-22 when he talks about "gaining all the more" and "saving some?" At first blush, this statement seems to indicate that Paul believed he might land more souls in glory if he did his work as an evangelist better in the ways he describes. Can Paul be suggesting that his performance in ministry could alter the number of God's elect who will be saved?

"In Christ" Rightly Divided

Paul refers to God's people as being “in Christ” in a number of ways.  Consider a few examples:

Finally Alive by John Piper

A few years ago I was given the book Finally Alive by John Piper as a Christmas present. This book was in many ways instrumental in underscoring in my mind some of the unscriptural assertions made by the NeoCalvinists. Piper's work is a gospel-means polemic whose premise is best summarized by the following quote: