The atonement is one of those doctrines that we think we all know. We have heard it talked about time and time again, and if we are not careful, when we see a post about it, or hear someone speak about it, we tune out. I would submit to you, however, that we have not even begun to exhaust the depths of the most glorious doctrine in Scripture.
In studying the atonement, there are several questions that we have to ask. First, does the atonement really obtain salvation, or merely make salvation possible? If Christ died for "all" then why aren't all saved? What does it mean that "God so loved the world" and how does that relate to the atonement?
If Jesus' death just made salvation possible, then there is no certainty that anyone would be saved, and that God sending His Son was the greatest cosmic gamble ever. However, if Jesus's death actually obtained salvation, who did He obtain it for? If he obtained it for every individual person, how come every individual person is not saved? These are some of the questions I wish to answer in the next few post.
Christians have usually answered these questions in one of two ways: either through what has been labeled unlimited atonement or limited atonement.
Unlimited atonement argues that Christ died for the sins of every individual person who would ever live. Thus, the atonement only made salvation possible, not certain, for those to whom it is offered. The design and purpose of the atonement was to save all men.
Limited atonement has often been understood to believe that the atonement of Christ is not limited in its power to save, but in the extent to which it will save certain individuals (i.e, the elect). Thus, Christ did not die for all men, but for the elect only. The atonement has therefore not rendered the salvation of all men possible, but the salvation of the elect certain. Limited atonement states that Jesus Christ came and died for a limited number of people. He did not die, or redeem, every individual for all of time, but only the elect. This does not mean that the power of His death could not have saved all men if He wanted to. The power and efficacy of His death was sufficient to save every individual that ever lived. However, that was not what God intended. This view argues that the Scripture does not present "possibilities”; rather, it states that the scope of His death is limited.
Before we go on, it is important that we define our terms.
Atonement: As it relates specifically to the work of Christ in salvation, it is a covering or satisfaction offered for sin. The concept of atonement includes substitution, propitiation, redemption, and reconciliation.
Substitution- “Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3). “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rm. 5:8). The idea of substitution is that not only did Christ die for sins, but substituted Himself for sinners. The Greek prepositions used here are hyper and anti, which mean “in the place of’ or “on behalf of”. Thus, Christ died in the place of sinners. Christ life was given as a ransom price for many (Mk. 10:45).
Propitiation- To “appease” or “satisfy” and refers to the appeasing of the wrath of God and the satisfying of his holy, righteous demands against sin. Rom 3:23-26.
Sacrifice- Christ gave Himself over to pay the penalty of death that we deserved. (Heb. 9:26).
Reconciliation- This refers to overcoming our separation from God and speaks of bringing up back into fellowship with him (2 Cor. 5:18-19).
Redemption- means to buy back from sin through the payment of a ransom. Christ paid the ransom price for us to be bought and delivered from the bondage of sin.
The question is not whether the atonement rendered by Christ was in itself sufficient for the salvation of every person, but rather, are the saving benefits actually applied to every person. Did God send Christ into the world to die to obtain salvation or simply make salvation possible? Did God send Christ into the world with the purpose of saving all men or the elect only?
The Reformed positions believes that though the death of Christ is sufficient to make atonement for the sins of every human being, the merits of the atonement are only applied to the elect. In other words, the purpose of the atonement was to obtain salvation for those that God the Father marked out as His own before the foundation of the world.
Biblical teachings on limited atonement:
The Nature of God: All throughout scripture, the Bible teaches that the plans and designs of God are always accomplished, and cannot be overturned and frustrated by the plans of men. If this is God’s character, it means that He always functions in this manner. It means that every plan or purpose or decree that He makes He intends to fulfill This being the case, if it had been God’s intention to save every human being, then He would definitely save every human being. However, it is admitted by both all sides (Armenians, Semi-Pelagians, and Reformed) that only a limited number are saved. Thus, these are the only ones that God has determined to save.
Covenant of Redemption: Christ’s death was part of an eternal covenant (Heb. 13:20) and Christ was appointed to a covenant relationship with God’s people (Is. 42:6-7). Christ made it clear that it was the Father’s will to save all those the Father had given him from eternity past (John. 6:37-40) and in his high priestly prayer, Jesus indicated that he carried out the Father’s will by redeeming God’s people (John 17:1-4).
The Union of Christ with His People: Christ has a special relationship with his people because of His union with them, and this union took place in eternity past (Eph. 1:4). When Christ died, He knew every person intimately for whom he was dying.
The Language of Possession: Scripture repeatedly qualifies those for whom Christ died in such a way that it points to a very definite limitation. They are called “His sheep”- John 10:10-11 10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 11 "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. “His church”- Acts 20:28 28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. (cf Eph 5:25-27). “His people”- Matthew 1:21 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." “The elect”- Romans 8:33 33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.
The Intercessory Work of Christ: Christ's atoning work includes His sacrifice (death on the cross) and His intercession (sitting at the right hand of God as our high priest). If Christ's intercession cannot be separated from His sacrifice, and His sacrifice was for every individual person, then that means that He is making intercession for everyone, and that the Bible teaches universalism. However, we even see that while He was on earth, Christ limited his intercession. John 17:9 9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours. It is impossible to separate Christ's high priestly work from his atonement.
Relationship of Christ’s Death to Faith: Faith is a gift from God (Phil. 1:29; Eph. 2:8-9; Acts 18:27) 1 Peter 1:19-21 indicates that Christ purchases faith for His people.
Christ’s Fulfilled Purpose: The Bible is clear that Christ came for the purpose to save sinners. Did He accomplish that purpose or just make salvation merely possible. 1 Tim 1:15, Luke 19:10, Matt. 1:21 do not say that His purpose was to attempt to save lost sinners, but to save them. . The Scriptures also tell us that Christ accomplished this purpose (Gal. 3:13; Col. 1:21-22a; heb. 10:14). These verses do not talk about the possibility of salvation, but the reality of salvation.
That Christ died for all leads to Universalism: In Scripture, Christ’s death is depicted as substitutionary. A substitution constitutes one person taking the place of another. In reference to the death of Christ, if He bore the wrath of God for every individual, and became a substitute for every individual, then it is impossible that those for whom Christ paid the price of sin, removing their guilt, should be lost. It makes no sense to punish someone in hell if their sin has already been paid for. Thus, if one holds to a substitutionary death, they either have to believe in universalism or particular redemption.
The Bible teaches that Christ death obtained salvation, not simply made it possible: Romans 5:10 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 2 Corinthians 5:21 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Galatians 1:4 4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, Galatians 3:13 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE " Ephesians 1:7 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace Hebrews 9:11-12 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Objections to Limited Atonement:
Passages that teach that Christ died for the world: The assumption is that the word “world” means “every single individual”. However, Scripture does not use the term in this way. If it means every individual person in John 6:33;51, then Christ actually gives life to every single individual, and thus we have universalism. The “world” in such instances is used to rule out the Jewish particularism and show that salvation is now offered to all nations.
Passages that teach that Christ died for all men: Again, these must be taken in a limited sense lest we subscribe to universalism. The “all men” in Rm. 5:18 and 1 Cor. 15:22 includes only those who are “in Christ” as contrasted with those who are “in Adam”. If the word “all” in these passages is not interpreted with a limited sense, we have universalism. This also must be applied to 2 Cor. 5:14 and Heb. 2:9. In other passages like Titus 2:11 and 1 Tim. 2:4-6 where the phrase “all men” is used, the context shows that Paul means “all manner of men” or “all classes of men” not “every individual man
1 John 2:2- Many argue that the use of the word "world" here nullifies the doctrine of limited atonement. But, as usually, context makes all the difference. The word “and” links this verse to the proceeding one. Verse 1 is about Christians and has nothing to say about unbelievers. The primary thought is advocacy for believers. Thus, there is a link between "advocate" and "propitiation". Therefore whole world is connected with believers. If Christ is the propitiation for every individual person, then He is the advocate for every individual person; again, this would mean universalism. “Our” refers to John and his hearers, while "whole world" shows that salvation is open to every ethnic class. Later on in this same letter, John uses the word "world" again when he states that “the whole world is under the power of the evil one.” Is every individual under the power of the evil one? No, not Christians. We will get more into John's use of "world" in the next post.
Finally, when we look at the Day of Atonement in ancient Israel, the day and the sacrifices were only for the nation of Israel, God's elect nation, and not for the rest of the nations. The Day of Atonement was a foreshadowing of the Day in which God would atone for sin once and for all through the New Covenant. The consistent testimony all throughout Scripture is that atonement for sin has always been for the elect.
Thus, what we are left with is this:
If Christ died for all sins, then every man will be saved
If Christ died for some sins, then no man will be saved
but if Christ died for the sins of his elect, then all the elect will be saved...
The Perfect Savior
In the next post we will deal exclusively with John 3:16