“Problem” Passages: Limited Atonement, Definite Atonement, Particular Redemption

To assume that the word “world” or “all” always means all people everywhere without exception is not “the plain reading” of the text as some suggest. It is merely a superficial reading that does not seek to understand the word itself in the context.

In fact in many of the disputed passages if you take the “literal” reading, you would be force to affirm Universalism that all men everywhere are saved which the Bible flatly condemns.

Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth The Extent of the Atonement

Another reason this discussion often leads to frustration relates to methodology. Too often, universalists cite a number of proof texts containing the words “all” or “world” and consider the matter closed, declaring the particularist interpretation a violation of the “plain reading” of the text. Yet such an approach fails to take into account the context of these isolated texts along with the rest of the teaching of Scripture and thus demonstrates that what is often claimed to be the “plain reading” is nothing more than a superficial reading.

Uses of the Word “World”

Just in the writings of John, Steven Lawson finds 10 different uses of the word “World” (Kosmos).

“Definite Atonement (Part 1),” From Teaching Series: The Doctrines of Grace in John, Ligionier Ministries.

1. The Created World/Universe

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Here there is actually two uses because the first two worlds are the created universe while the third is the people of the world speaking of humanity in general.

John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

2. The Physical Earth

John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

Jesus was doing to depart this physical earth and go back to Heaven

3. World System/Fallen Humanity in Rebellion against God Under the Dominion and Control of Satan

John 12:31 “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”

4. Unbelievers

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.”

5. Just a Large Group as opposed to Everyone in the World

John 12:19 “So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.””

6. The General Public (Related to 5)

John 7:4 “For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.””

Just those in Jerusalem at a large public gathering for a feast

7. Jews and Gentiles

John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

1 John 2:2 “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Similar in construction to John 11:51–52“He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”

John 4:42 “They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.””

8. Humanity in General (sometimes with an emphasis on mankind in general in the pitiful misery of their sin)

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

9. The Non-Elect (Related to 4 and 8)

John 17:9 “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”

10. The Elect (The Great Mass of Sinners in the World God sent His Son to save)

John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

What world? The world of the Elect.

John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.””

“All”

“All” in the context of passages that speak of Christ’s sacrifice/redemption usually carries 1 of 2 senses:

All of a Sub-Group

All of a sub-group such as “all of the elect”

Romans 8:32–34“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

The “us all” is the elect who Christ intercedes for.

All without Distinction; Not All without Exception

1 Timothy 2:1–6 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

The ransom for all is qualified by all people, kings and high positions to suggest all kinds of people. Not each and every person individually. Does Paul really urge that we pray for every single person in the world by name?

Even Jesus Himself did not pray for all men (John 17:9).

The idea is similar to Galatians 3:28–29 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

Jesus is the Savior of all people without distinction from every tribe, tongue, and nation, gender and social status.

He is the God of all (all kinds of people).

All Can Be Limited

Mark 1:5 “And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

All here doesn’t obviously mean every person individually because Luke 7:30 says some of the Pharisees were not baptized by him.

1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

All have died in Adam are we to assume that as many as have died in Adam shall be made alive in Christ?

John 18:20 “Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.”

Did literally all the Jews come together or is Jesus a liar?

1 Corinthians 15:27 “For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.”

Paul explicitly says all does not include all things absolutely excepting God Himself.

“Problem” Passages

John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

If Christ really did take away the sin of the world, then why does anyone perish in Hell? Was their sin not taken away in any real since.

To say world means all people would teach universalism and to say Jesus only potentially takes away sin is not what the passage says. He actually takes it away.

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The key for John 3:16 is the purpose clause of John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

God did not send Christ to save each and every person in the world individually…that would be universalism.

Rather, world in John 3:16 means humanity in general under judgment in the misery of their sin. Its the world under judgment. The emphasis is not the breadth of God’s love (whole World) but the depth (God is so kind to an evil world that He sent His Son to save those under His condemnation and judgment).

Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism Objections Answered

B. B. Warfield says kosmos is used in John 3 not to suggest that the world is so big that it takes a great deal of love to embrace it all, but that the world is so bad that it takes a great kind of love to love it at all, and much more to love it as God loved it when He gave His Son for sinners in it.

There is also an argument to be made that the world is all without distinction incorporating Gentiles as Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1).

Likewise, Jesus himself limits the scope of His death to whoever (literally all believing ones) saying they will not perish.

John 12:32–33“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”

All means all people without distinction as the immediate context (John 12:20-26) has some Greeks seeking Jesus.

1 John 2:1–2“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

First ask what is a Propitiation.

A Propitiation is a sacrifice that actually and effectively turns away the wrath of God.

So did Christ actually satisfy the wrath of God on the cross or not? If so then the world cannot mean everyone or else again, everyone would be saved.

World here either means:

1. Our - Jew and World - Gentile, every tribe, tongue and nation (see John 11:51-52 for a similar construction)

2. Emphasis on Christ being the One Savior, the One Propitiation, God has provided for the world.

Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism Objections Answered

Abraham Kuyper shows that the Greek word translated “for” (peri, not hyper) means “fitting for” or “with respect to.” Hence, the meaning of the Greek can be that Jesus is a propitiation just like we and the entire world need—or, just as Jesus is our propitiation, so the entire world needs that same propitiation.

Hyper is usually the word used for Christ’s death as a substitutionary sacrifice in the New Testament.

Romans 8:28–39 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

The us all in context refers to the elect, who God foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His son before the foundation of the world (verse 29).

It is also defined in verse 33 as the elect and verse 34 those who Christ is interceding on their behalf at the right hand of the Father.

The “all” is limited to “all the elect.”

2 Corinthians 5:14–15“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Are we really to say that all have died in Christ? That’s universalism.

The All would be referring to all of the elect…all those who have died and rose again in Christ ala Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

2 Corinthians 5:19 “that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

This cannot mean universal redemption.

Perhaps mankind in general in the misery of their sin.

In context, Paul defines reconciliation explicitly as not counting their trespasses against them, and unless we affirm universalism, world cannot mean all people.

Jesus is the Savior of all people without distinction from every tribe, tongue, and nation, gender and social status.

He is the God of all (all kinds of people).

Paul emphasizes this because the false teachers plaguing Timothy were teaching a form of Jewish elitism (1 Timothy 1:7 “teachers of the Law”, 1 Timothy 4:1-3). So Christ died for all not just Jews contra the false teachers.

1 Timothy 4:10 “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

Savior of all people especially or namely those who believe.

Again, Paul emphasizes this because the false teachers plaguing Timothy were teaching a form of Jewish elitism (1 Timothy 1:7 “teachers of the Law”, 1 Timothy 4:1-3). So Christ died for all not just Jews contra the false teachers.

The below quote notes that the Savior of all people in view is God the Father discussing His nature as savior both 1. to all men in that He does not immediately visit his justice on them for their sin saving them in a temporal, though not eternal sense, and 2. the elect who are saved eternally.

Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth Christ Died for “All”

However, it is worth noting that the Son is not the nearest antecedent to “Savior” in this passage; rather, it is God the Father, “the living God,” who is in focus here. This verse is speaking not about the atonement of Christ in particular but about God’s nature as a Savior. Paul is thus outlining two ways in which God’s saving nature is expressed. He is the Savior of all men in a temporal sense; that is, though all men have sinned against him, incurred guilt, and will pay for their sins in hell, God has not immediately visited his justice on them as he did with the fallen angels (cf. Rom. 3:25; 2 Pet. 2:4). Even the reprobate enjoy a temporary stay of execution and thus experience the joys of life in a world infused with the common grace of God (Matt. 5:44–45). Yet God’s saving nature is also expressed in a more profound way for those who are his own. He is the Savior of all men in a temporal sense but the Savior of the elect—that is, those who eventually come to saving faith—in an eternal sense.

Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,”

Not all people universally or else everyone would be saved. All kinds of people without distinction. Not all people without exception.

The context of Titus 2:2-10 gave instructions for all kinds and classes of people: older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and slaves.

Hebrews 2:9 “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

Jesus tasted death for all - either all kinds of people or all - all who believe in Him.

Similar to Acts 2:17 ““ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;” where God pours out the Spirit not on all flesh as in every person.

Also the context of Hebrews 2:11–12 says that Christ suffered for His brothers (For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.)

And Hebrews 12:13 says those who benefit from his death are the children God has given him.

2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.”

Christ has authority over all flesh (John 17:2) and these false prophets profess to be His servants and so in teaching heresies they deny they profess to serve.

MacArthur gives 5 reasons this does not mean that Christ died for these false teachers who ultimately will not be saved.

Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth Christ Died for Those Who Will Finally Perish

First, in all but one instance in the New Testament (Jude 4), the word “Master” (Gk. despotēs) is used to indicate not the Son but the Father. Thus, Christ’s redeeming work on the cross is likely not in view here. Second, Long explains,

Of its thirty occurrences in the New Testament, agorazō is never used in a soteriological context (unless 2 Peter 2:1 is the exception) without the technical term “price” (timēs—a technical term for the blood of Christ) or its equivalent being stated or made explicit in the context (see 1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23; Rev. 5:9; 14:3, 4).

That is, it is very likely that Peter is using agorazō in a nonsoteriological sense. Third, Peter is clearly alluding to Deuteronomy 32:6, which says, “Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you” (NASB). The language of “denying the Master who bought them” serves to identify the false teachers of Peter’s day with the false prophets of Israel. Fourth, it is likely that Peter is granting, for the sake of argument, the premise that the false teachers are true believers. In other words, as Schreiner says, “It appeared as if the Lord had purchased the false teachers with his blood [2 Pet. 2:1], though they actually did not truly belong to the Lord.” Peter is thus sarcastically saying, “These who claim to be redeemed deny by their deeds and their doctrine the Master whom they claim has bought them. They are no better than the false prophets of Israel.” Fifth, if taken to its logical conclusion, the universalist interpretation denies not only an efficacious redemption—which Scripture explicitly affirms (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14)—but also the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, that is, that one who is truly redeemed cannot be lost (John 10:27–30; Rom. 8:31–39; 1 John 2:19).

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

God must have sent Christ to die for all because he does not wish that any should perish but all should repent.

But do all repent? Are we to take this verse to teach universalism?

Two Responses:

Scripture talks about God’s will in three ways:

Decretive Will - that which will surely come to pass and cannot be thwarted by anyone or anything.

Preceptive or Prescriptive Will - that which God commands.

Optative Will - that which pleases or delights God.

It’s possible to take 2 Peter 3:9 as God’s optative God’s wish is that which pleases or displeases him similar to Ezekiel 18:31–32“Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.””

The other response would be the immediate context of Peter’s letter. In the immediate context Peter says God is patient towards you; He calls them beloved in 2 Peter 3:8, and notes that they are those 2 Peter 1:1 who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

So the all that God desires could be the beloved church meaning this passage is it could be taken in the Decretive sense that God desires none of the elect to perish but all of the elect to reach repentance and be saved.