02.3. Limited Atonement
Limited Atonement
1 Peter 2:8-9 [see "God elects individuals to salvation"/God elects individuals to condemnation"] 1)It is for these in particular that Christ gave his life
[we are commanded to love our wives in the same way that Christ loved the church and gave himself for it; therefore, if Christ loved and gave himself for all people in the same way, we are commanded to love all women in the same way that we love our wives]
Hebrews 9:15 2)It is for these in particular that Christ intercedes
3) The people for whom Christ intercedes are the same as the people for whom he offered himself up as a sacrifice
Hebrews 9:12 [note context, in which entering into the holy place is explicitly for the purpose of intercession]
[For a fuller understanding of the indissoluble connection between sacrifice and intercession, read Hebrews 7:1-28, Hebrews 8:1-13, Hebrews 9:1-28, Hebrews 10:1-39]
[the single effective cause of justification in view here is the bearing of iniquities; all whose iniquities Christ bore must be justified]
[the argument here is that the fact of Christ’s death, resurrection, and intercession is in itself an incontrovertibly effective reason for non-condemnation; if this verse is true, then no one for whom Christ died and was raised to intercede may be condemned] 2)To redeem and cleanse from sins Ephesians 5:25-27
Titus 2:14 3)To propitiate the Father
["propitiation" means "the turning away or appeasement of wrath"; therefore, by definition, the Father has no more wrath against those whose sins have been propitiated]
1 John 4:10 4)To raise to new life 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
[the argument is a simple "if/then" proposition: "if" Christ died for someone, "then," with no other conditions, that person died with him and was raised again]
[See also, "Jesus’ death purchased for his people a new heart; - faith; - repentance". Jesus died in order to establish the New Covenant (Matthew 26:26-29, etc.); the New Covenant promised faith, repentance and knowledge of God (Jeremiah 31:33-34, Ezekiel 36:26-27, etc.); therefore, Jesus died in order to provide faith, repentance, and knowledge of God, as the fulfillment of a unilateral promise. This means that his death had a definite purpose which was intended for some and not others. His death effectively purchased faith; not all have faith; and so his death had an effective intent that was limited to certain persons.]
John 3:16 1)From every nation
Revelation 5:9 2)From every class
[the first "all men" is explicitly tied to all classes of men, which gives warrant for understanding the second "all men" in the same way]
3) Therefore, Christ’s saving work is commonly spoken of in terms of "all," "world," etc.
Titus 2:11-14 [in the context of "all men" is the delimiting concept of a peculiar people, zealous of good works]
Hebrews 2:9-10 [notice that the many sons whom Christ brings to glory gives a contextual delimiter to the term "every"]
2 Peter 3:9 [note that this desire is explicitly limited to "us" (Peter was writing to fellow-believers) in the context]
[propitiation means "appeasement of wrath"; either Jesus appeases God’s wrath against all, and therefore hell (which is the place where God’s wrath resides) is non-existent; or the "whole world" means something different than "every individual who ever lived". See John 11:51-52, and "The word ’world’ is often used in the sense of ’many,’ or ’all of a set’"]
4) The word "all" is often used to indicate all of a set, or even many representatives of a set
Matthew 10:22 1 Corinthians 6:12 1 Corinthians 15:22
Acts 26:4 5)Or, to indicate all "classes" or "nations," not all individuals
Matthew 5:11 ["manner of" is not in the Greek]
Acts 10:12 ["manner of" is not in the Greek]
6) The word "world" is often used in the sense of "many," or "all of a set"
Romans 1:8 Additional reasons that the atonement of Christ is not for all the sins of all people 1)God punishes people in hell, which would be unjust if their sins were atoned for
2) If one were to say, "their sins are atoned for, but that atonement is not applied because of unbelief," he fails to realize that unbelief is likewise a sin
Hebrews 3:12 ["The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for either:
1) All the sins of all men;
2) All the sins of some men; or 3) Some of the sins of all men. In which case it may be said:
1) If the last be true all men have some sins to answer for, and so none are saved;
2) That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth;
3) But if the first is the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins? You answer, Because of unbelief. I ask, Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!" - John Owen, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ]
3)God bears eternal wrath against people, which by definition means that his wrath against them has not been propitiated [appeased] 1 Thessalonians 2:16 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 Intentions of Christ’s death other than atonement 1)To make a public display of demons Colossians 2:13-23 2)To rule over everyone
Romans 14:9 3)To redeem creation
Romans 8:20-23 [in Greek, same word as "creation," Romans 8:22] 4)To lay the foundation for a genuine gospel call
John 7:37-53 5)To provide temporal mercies for the non-elect