L is for Limited Atonement
How Jesus effectively bought the salvation of everyone God intends to save
Not all are saved. If Jesus died for everyone, then He died for the sins of people who are not saved. How is that possible? The doctrine of limited atonement answers that Jesus didn’t pay for everyone but only for God’s people; that He hates some, like Esau, and, so, doesn’t save them and He loves others, like Jacob, and does save them.
Some say, Jesus made salvation available but it’s up to us to “accept” it. But if that’s the case, then Jesus didn’t pay it all, He left the final piece of salvation up to us and so salvation isn’t by His grace but is left up to our will (contrary to Romans 9:16). If we say that the atonement is for everyone – that is, Jesus paid for everyone’s sin – then that payment would include paying for the sin of unbelief, of choosing not to accept the gospel. So, God would have no right to send anyone to hell since every sin, including unbelief, is paid for. So, to say that the atonement is for everyone would have to mean that everyone will be saved. But we know that is not the case.
Particular People
Look how many times the Bible says Jesus gave His life for a particular people. Jesus atoned for “His people” (Mt. 1:21) not everyone; He laid down His life for His “sheep” (John 10:11), not the wolves or goats. He “loved His own who were in the world,” not everyone (John 13:1.) “Jesus Christ...gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us … and purify for Himself His own special people” (Tit. 2:14); “Christ suffered for us..” (1 Pet. 2:24); Christ “Himself purged our sins” (Heb. 1:13); “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7); “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.… He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:9-10). In each of these scriptures, the atoning work of Christ is for a specific people that God choose, not generally for everyone.
Some say that the Bible teaches that Jesus paid for the sins of all people. The famous John 3:16-17 says God loved “the world”; 1 John 2:2 speaks of Jesus dying for the sins of “the whole world:’ and 1 Timothy 4:10 says that God is the “savior of all men.” But we must understand that “world” in scripture doesn’t always mean every individual. The same apostle who gave us those two “world” expressions – John – also wrote that the “whole world” lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19.) Did he mean this to include everyone, even the Apostles? In John 11:51f, he writes that Jesus was to die “not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” (A very similar idea is in Revelation 5:9, “with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”) Hence, we see that by “world” can mean people from all over the world, all kinds of people, not every single individual. This is especially evident when we remember the Jewish context of the New Testament. Many assumed that the Messiah came just for the literal Israel. But the apostle was saying that God loved and saved all kinds of people from all nations – not just national Israel.
Universal Atonement Texts on Closer Examination
On closer examination the scriptures that some believe teach a universal atonement really allow for a limited (or particular) atonement. John 3:16-17, for example, is often interpreted to mean that God sent His Son so that everyone “might be” saved (v. 17) – that Jesus only made salvation possible if only people “dead in their sins” (Eph. 2:1, 5) will somehow believe in Him. But John 3:16 doesn’t say all can believe. It says that all who believe will be saved but that doesn’t mean that all are capable of believing. Saying, “Anyone who swims across this river will get to the other side,” does not imply everyone can swim. John 3:16 doesn’t imply everyone can believe. In other words, John 3:16 is saying that God sent His Son so that all kinds of people in the world “will be saved,” not that every individual can be saved if they make the right choice.
First Timothy 4:10 is especially relevant. “We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.” On the one hand it does tell us that God is the only hope of salvation for all people. But note the “especially.” God is the savior “especially” of those who believe. In other words, Jesus’ sacrifice was for believers in a way that is different – and more intentional – than was His death for the unbelieving world. Others, He does not save. God hated Esau (Romans 9:13). God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that He can bless Israel and glorify Himself (Ex. 4:21; 7:3; 14:4, 17); “It was the Lord’s doing to harden [the Caananite’s] hearts . . . in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy. . .” (Jos. 11:20); the prophet Isaiah asked God why He hardened the people’s heart so they wouldn’t revere Him (Is. 63:17); the Apostle Paul wrote that God “hardens whom He wants to harden” (Rom. 9:18). Further, Isaiah is commissioned by God to prophesy for the very purpose that Israel might “not understand”, that they might be dull, not repent and so earn God’s judgement (Is. 6:9-13). Jesus explained that He used parables not because it was an effective teaching tool (as many people today say) but precisely for the opposite reason: that the hard-hearted people might not understand and repent (Mt. 13:13ff). Does it make sense that Jesus would have died for people whose heart He hardened or given Himself for those He purposely sought to cloak the truth from?
Atonement
People commonly say that Jesus paid for everyone’s sin. They point to 1 John 2:2 where it says that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. What is “atonement”? It is “at-one-ment”, making God at one with the people who are atoned for.
In the Old Testament, atoning sacrifices were for particular people: for the offeror or, at most, for the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, not for everyone. “Atonement be made for you to cleanse you” (Leviticus 16:30), not everyone. In the New Testament, the atoning sacrifice is also particularly for God’s chosen people: the church. Jesus makes “propitiation” — the atoning sacrifice who takes away God’s wrath — for “our” sins (1 John 2:2.) If He did that for everyone, then there is no more wrath for anyone.
Atonement is the work of God in Christ on the cross in which He canceled the debt of our sin, appeased His holy wrath against sinners, and won all the benefits of salvation. When Jesus died for people, He took the punishment for sin and satisfied God’s right anger at those people. The question, then, is who did He do this for? For everyone? Then all are saved. Some will counter, but they have to “accept” it to make it effective. Then Jesus effectively saved no one but only made salvation possible for those who do the work of “accepting.” Salvation, then, according to them, depends on the will of the sinner (contrary to Romans 9:16 which says that salvation does not depend on man’s desire or effort.) The problem with saying that Jesus paid for everyone’s sin, then, is that we must either conclude that everyone is saved or that Jesus really didn’t complete salvation but left one final part up to the will of sinners. But if Jesus provided for the atonement of His people, then those people are saved. Their faith is not what makes their salvation effective but what they show when they are saved. Faith is a gift given to the saved (Philippians 1:21).
Seeing that Jesus fully provided for the atonement of His people means that if you are one for whom Jesus “especially” died then there is no more punishment you deserve and God has no more anger towards you. It would be as if you were caught illegally parking and fined $100. I could go in to the court house and pay your fine for you. If you later went to pay the fine, you’d be told that you have no more fine to pay. The clerk wouldn’t accept your $100 because a substitute paid it for you. This is why the atonement must be limited. If it is for everyone, then everyone is saved. But they aren’t. If receiving the atonement depends on anything we do, then salvation is no longer by grace. And we know that’s not the case either.
Limited
Those who cringe at the word “limited” and call for a supposed “universal” atonement actually limit it the most. They limit the power of the atonement by reducing it to a mere opportunity to be saved – a check issued but left up to you to cash. So, while they tell the lost that “Jesus died for your sins,” they actually believe that His death for their sins only becomes effective when they activate it by their faith. (And apparently Jesus’ death, in their view, doesn’t cover the sin of unbelief since they can still be damned for choosing not to believe.) But to limit the atonement by the faith of sinners (who are “dead in their trespasses”) is to limit it to the extreme. Sinners, being “slaves of sin,” will never choose, if left to themselves, to believe. Hence, they also limit the extent of the atonement by denying that Jesus effectively and objectively bought anyone’s salvation.
Finally, there are a number of scriptures which suggest that Jesus died especially for the elect. The angel foretelling Jesus, said that He will atone for “His people” (Mt. 1:21) not everyone. In John 10:15, the Lord Jesus tells us, “I lay down my life for the sheep” - not for the goats or the wolves. In John 13:1, Jesus “loved His own who were in the world,” not everyone. In John 17: 9, 19, the He prays for those He has called “out of the world.” He said “I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.” Here, He’s not praying for the “world” because it is not for them that He’s about to sanctify Himself in death. Elsewhere the Bible talks of Jesus giving Himself a “ransom for many” (not all, Mk. 10:45), “poured out for many” (not all, Mt. 26:28), bearing “the sins of many” (not all, Heb. 9:28). The Apostle Paul specifically wrote that Christ gave Himself “for the Church” (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:25) and that “Jesus Christ...gave Himself for us [specifically], that He might redeem us [not everyone]… and purify for Himself His own special people” (Tit. 2:14). That Jesus fully bought a special, specific people – a flock – is the definition of “limited atonement.”
Amazing Grace
Every Christian who believes what the Bible says about a final judgement in which some people will be eternally damned must believe the atonement is limited by something. Either it is limited by the will of sinners or the will of God. If it is limited by our will having to choose to “accept” the atonement to make it effective, then it is off limits. None of us – always inclined to evil all the time (Gen. 6:5), slaves of sin (John 8:34, Romans 6:10), “dead in sin” and by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:1, 3) – would choose to accept the gospel if God doesn’t first choose us. And He doesn’t choose everyone. He hated Esau (Rom. 9:13). The Gospel says that God in His grace decided to save some, like Jacob – something He was under no obligation to do. The good news of “limited atonement” is that Jesus surely bought the salvation of His people. Jesus – indeed – paid it all! That’s amazing grace!