Sermons
Limited Atonement
Series: CalvinismCalvinism in the Light of the Scriptures (Part 3)
Is the Doctrine of Limited Atonement Taught in Scripture?
Introduction: The Calvinistic doctrine of Limited Atonement says that Christ’s atoning death was only for the elect and in no sense did He die for the rest of the race. This doctrine grows by necessity out of the Calvinistic doctrine of unconditional election, that we talked about last week. The idea is, since God before the creation of the world predestinated or elected certain individuals to be saved and predestinated other individuals to be lost, God then sent His Son to die ONLY for those whom He elected to be saved, and not for those whom He predestinated to be lost. Loraine Boettner wrote in The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, “If from eternity God has planned to save one portion of the human race and not another, it seems to be a contradiction to say that His work has equal reference to both portions, or that He sent His Son to die for those whom He had predetermined not to save, as truly as, and in the same sense that He was sent to die for those whom He had chosen for salvation. These two doctrines must stand or fall together. We cannot logically accept one and reject the other. If God has elected some and not others to eternal life, then plainly the primary purpose of Christ’s work was to redeem the elect.”
Now the Calvinists admit that Christ’s obedience and suffering were of infinite value, and that if God so willed, His death would secure salvation for everyone. Therefore, they say the limits of the atonement are not due to any shortcomings, or imperfections in the sacrifice itself, but it is due to the act of God in choosing a limited number of saved individuals. Walter Lingle has said, “John Calvin taught that the Atonement was sufficient for the salvation of all, but efficient only for the elect.” What this is saying is that God is the one who placed the limits on the Atonement. The view is the atoning sacrifice of Christ, which is sufficient to save all men, will not save all men. Why? Not because of man’s choices, but because of God’s choice to limit its efficiency. What does the Bible say?
I. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?
A. All have sinned against God (Rom. 3:23), and deserves eternal death (Rom. 6:23). But God does not want man to die. He desires to forgive all men of their sins (1 Tim. 2:4).
B. But God is a just God (Psalm 7:11). How can God be just and forgive man of his sins? Justice demands that the penalty for sin be paid.
1. ILL: What if a judge says to all the criminals who stand before him, “your crimes are forgiven. You may go free.” We would cry out for justice. We would say there is no justice in his
court. To let criminals go free is to minimize the seriousness of their crimes. It makes a farce of the law. There would be no difference between criminals and law-abiding citizens.
2. For God to be able to forgive us of our sins, and be just in doing it, the price for sin must be paid. This is accomplished through the death of Christ. In His death on the cross, Jesus paid
the price for our sins, thus satisfying the demands of justice and making it possible for God to forgive us. Rom. 3:24-26
A. How could God be just and pass over the sins that were previous committed?
How can God be just and the justifier of sinners?
B. It is because God set forth Jesus as a “propitiation” by His blood.
The Greek word for “propitiation” was a word used by the Greeks to mean, “to appease, to
make their angry gods more favorable to them.”
C. The true God is not like the false Greek gods. The nature of the true God is that He desires
to forgive, He is merciful.
But the word “propitiation” does indicate that sin is serious and has to be atoned for. For
God to be able to forgive as He desires, the price for sin has to be paid.
C. The Bible teaches that Jesus paid the price for our sins by His death on the cross.
Isa. 53:4-6; 1 Peter 2:24
II. The Bible teaches that JESUS DIED FOR ALL MEN.
A. Heb. 2:9 Jesus tasted death for everyone, not just for a chosen few.
B. John 1:29 Jesus, the sacrificial lamb for our sins, died to take away the sins of the world, not just
the sins of the elect.
C. 1 John 2:2 John here clears up the idea that Jesus just died for a chosen few. Instead, it says that
Christ died for the sins of the whole world.
D. 1 Tim. 2:6
1. “Ransom” is the price paid for the redemption of a captive. All men are captive to sin (Rom.
3:23). Jesus gave Himself as a ransom “huper (for, on behalf of) panton (all).”
2. The “all” in this passage, I know, refers to “all men” because in verse 4 it says that
God, “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And so when
verse 6 says that Christ “gave Himself a ransom for all,” that is for all men. God wants all to
be saved, therefore, He sent His Son to die for everyone.
III. The Bible teaches that GOD LOVES EVERYONE. If the doctrine of limited atonement is true,
then God’s love is limited.
A. The Bible teaches that there is a direct proportionate connection between the love of God and the
sacrifice of His Son.
B. Rom. 5:8
1. How does God demonstrate His love for us? -- by sending Christ to die for us even while we
were still sinners.
2. If Christ did not die for a particular sinner, does not that mean that God did not demonstrate
His love for that sinner? The ratio could be stated like this - as the death of Christ is to men,
so is the love of God to men. In other words, if the death of Christ for man is limited, then the
love of God for man is limited.
C. John 3:16
1. How did God show His love for the world? — by giving His only begotten Son.
2. If God gave His Son only for a select few, then His love is extended only to the select few, and
not for the rest of the world. Therefore, the doctrine of limited atonement limits the love of
God. Are the Calvinists ready to admit that God’s love for man is limited?
IV. The Bible teaches that GOD WANTS ALL TO BE SAVED.
A. 1 Tim. 2:4 God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
B. Titus 2:11
1. Because of God’s desire to save all men, He has extended His grace, which brings salvation, to
all men.
C. Matt. 11:28-30
1. Since God wants all men to be saved, and has extended His grace that brings salvation to all,
He then invites all sinners to come that they might be saved.
2. And the implication is that all who are invited can come.
C. Mark 16:15-16
1. Since God wants all men to be saved, Jesus told His apostles to go and preach the gospel to the
whole creation.
2. He did not tell them to go and preach just to the elect, but to the whole creation.
D. These passages teach us that God wants all to be saved, His grace that brings salvation is
extended to all men, that He invites all to come to be saved, and that all can be saved if they will
come to Christ.
E. Our point is this: if God wants all to be saved, extends His grace to all, invites all, it would then be inconsistent to say that Christ only died for a few. Why would God want everyone to be saved, and then provide a way for only a few people to be saved.
Conclusion: Why is it that many people will be lost? Someone might say, “If Jesus died for all and bore the sins of the whole world, then does not that prove that all will be saved?”
The reason some will be lost is because the salvation that the Lord has provided is conditional. It is not because God unconditionally elected few to be saved and thereby limited the Atonement, but rather it is because few choose to come to Christ and obey Him to receive the benefits of the atoning sacrifice. As we mentioned last week, man has been given a free will. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says that many are going down the broad way that leads to destruction, and few are going down the straightened way that leads to life. But why are many headed for destruction? Is it because God unconditionally elected the few to be saved? No! In this passage Jesus is urging all his listeners to make the decision to enter the narrow gate. Notice what He says in verse 13, “Enter by the narrow gate…” The choice was theirs. And the choice is ours today. The reason any of us may be lost is not because Jesus didn’t die for us. He died for everyone. It will be because we have sinned and refuse the only means of salvation available to us, and that is the death of Christ. Sinner, why not come to Christ today? He died for you.
