Limited Atonement

Definite Redemption

If faith is necessary to the atonement, then Christ’s work was indeed a mere potentiality. In itself it saves no one. It merely makes salvation theoretically possible we must ask the obvious question, what would have happened to the work of Christ if nobody believed in it? That had to be a theoretical possibility. In this case Christ would have died in vain. He would have been a potential Savior of all but an actual Savior of none.

Christ’s redeeming work was definite in design and accomplishment - that it was intended to render complete satisfaction for certain specified sinners, and that it actually secured salvation for these individuals and for no one else. The salvation that Christ earned for his people includes everything involved in bringing them into a right relationship with God, including the gifts of faith and repentance.

Christ did not die simply to make it possible for God to pardon sinners. Neither does God leave it up to sinners to decide whether or not Christ’s work will be effective. On the contrary, all for whom Christ sacrificed himself will be saved infallibly. Redemption, therefore, was designed to bring to pass God’s purpose of election.

Biblical Support

A. The Scriptures describe the end intended and accomplished by Christ’s work as the full salvation (actual reconciliation, justification, and sanctification) of His people.

1. The Scriptures state that Christ came, not to enable men to save themselves, but to save sinners.

Matthew 1:21 - LSB

²¹ And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Luke 19:10 - LSB

¹⁰ For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 - LSB

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 1:3-4 - LSB

³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 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,

1 Timothy 1:15 - LSB

¹⁵ It is a trustworthy saying and deserving full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost.

Titus 2:14 - LSB

¹⁴ who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works.

1 Peter 3:18 - LSB

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that He might bring you to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

2. The Scriptures declare that, as the result of what Christ did and suffered, His people are reconciled to God, justified, and given the Holy Spirit who regenerates and sanctifies them. All these blessings were secured by Christ Himself for His people.

a. Christ, by His redeeming work, secured reconciliation for His people.

Romans 5:10 - LSB

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 5:18-19 - LSB

¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Ephesians 2:15-16 - LSB

¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might create the two into one new man, making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having in Himself put to death the enmity.

Colossians 1:21-22 - LSB

²¹ And although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds, ²² but now He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—

b. Christ secured the righteousness and pardon needed by His people for their justification.

Romans 3:24-25 - LSB

²⁴ being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith, for a demonstration of His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

Romans 5:8-9 - LSB

⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

1 Corinthians 1:30 - LSB

³⁰ But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

Galatians 3:13 - LSB

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”—

Colossians 1:13 - LSB

¹³ Who rescued us from the authority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love,

Hebrews 9:12 - LSB

¹² and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy places once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

1 Peter 2:24 - LSB

²⁴ Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.

c. Christ secured the gift of the Spirit which includes regeneration and sanctification and all that is involved in them.

Ephesians 1:3-4 - LSB

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love,

Philippians 1:29 - LSB

²⁹ For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

Acts 5:31 - LSB

³¹ This One God exalted to His right hand as a Leader and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Titus 2:14 - LSB

¹⁴ who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works.

Titus 3:5-6 - LSB

⁵ He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Ephesians 5:25-26 - LSB

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

1 Corinthians 1:30 - LSB

³⁰ But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

Hebrews 9:14 - LSB

¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 13:12 - LSB

¹² Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

1 John 1:7 - LSB

⁷ but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

B. Passages which represent the Lord Jesus Christ, in all that He did and suffered for His people, as fulfilling the terms of a gracious compact or arrangement which He had entered into with His heavenly Father before the foundation of the world.

1. Jesus was sent into the world by the Father to save the people which the Father had given to Him. Those given to Him by the Father come to Him (see and believe in Him) and none of them shall be lost.

John 6:35-40 - LSB

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ Now this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

2. Jesus, as the good shepherd, lays down His life for His sheep. All who are “His sheep” are brought by Him into the fold and are made to hear His voice and follow Him. Notice that the Father had given the sheep to Christ!

John 10:11-18 - LSB

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, ¹⁵ even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. ¹⁸ No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

John 10:24-29 - LSB

²⁴ The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us openly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish—ever; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

3. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer, prays not for the world but for those given to Him by the Father. In fulfillment of the Father’s charge Jesus had accomplished the work the Father had sent Him to do—to make God known to His people and to give them eternal life.

John 17:1–11, 20, 24–26 - LSB

¹ Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, ² even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴ I glorified You on the earth, having finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. ⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; ⁸ for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 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; ¹⁰ and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ And I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. ²⁰ “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; ²⁶ and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

4. Paul declares that all of the “spiritual blessings” which the saints inherit such as sonship, redemption, the forgiveness of sin, etc., result from their being “in Christ,” and he traces these blessings back to their ultimate source in the eternal counsel of God—to that great blessing of their having been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and destined to be God’s sons through Him.

Ephesians 1:3-12 - LSB

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, ⁵ by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight, ⁹ making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him ¹⁰ for an administration of the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in Him. ¹¹ In Him, we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, ¹² to the end that we who first have hoped in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

5. The parallel which Paul draws between the condemning work of Adam and the saving work of Jesus Christ the “second man,” the “last Adam,” can best be explained on the principle that both stood in covenant relation to “their people” (Adam stood as the federal head of the race, and Christ stood as the federal head of the elect). As Adam involved his people in death and condemnation by his sin, even so Christ brought justification and life to His people through His righteousness.

Romans 5:12, 17–19 - LSB

¹² The Gift of Righteousness in Christ
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. ¹⁷ For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. ¹⁹ For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were appointed sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be appointed righteous.

C. Some passages speak of Christ’s dying for “all” men and of His death as saving the “world,” yet others speak of His death as being definite in design and of His dying for particular people and securing salvation for them.

1. There are two classes of texts that speak of Christ’s saving work in general terms: (a) Those containing the word “world”—e.g., John 1:9, 29; 3:16, 17; 4:42; 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 John 2:1, 2; 4:14 and (b) Those containing the word “all”—e.g., Romans 5:18; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15; 1 Timothy 2:4–6; Hebrews 2:9; 2 Peter 3:9.

One reason for the use of these expressions was to correct the false notion that salvation was for the Jews alone. Such phrases as “the world,” “all men,” “all nations,” and “every creature” were used by the New Testament writers to emphatically correct this mistake. These expressions are intended to show that Christ died for all men without distinction (i.e., He died for Jews and Gentiles alike) but they are not intended to indicate that Christ died for all men without exception (i.e., He did not die for the purpose of saving each and every lost sinner).

2. There are other passages which speak of His saving work in definite terms and show that it was intended to infallibly save a particular people, namely those given to Him by the Father.

Matthew 1:21 - LSB

²¹ And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 20:28 - LSB

²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Matthew 26:28 - LSB

²⁸ for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

John 10:11 - LSB

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

John 11:50-53 - LSB

⁵⁰ nor do you take into account that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” ⁵¹ Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³ So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.

Acts 20:28 - LSB

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.

Ephesians 5:25-27 - LSB

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.

Romans 8:32-34 - LSB

³² He who indeed did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; ³⁴ who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Hebrews 2:17; 3:1 - LSB

¹⁷ Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹ Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession—Jesus,

Hebrews 9:15 - LSB

¹⁵ And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the trespasses that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9:28 - LSB

²⁸ so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Revelation 5:9 - LSB

⁹ And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

Review also the verses quoted above under B, 1, 2, 3.

More Verses

Jesus Actually Saves

Matthew 1:21 - ESV

1. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Luke 19:10 - ESV

1. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Acts 5:31 - ESV

1. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Romans 3:24-25 - ESV

1. and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
2. whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Romans 5:8-9 - ESV

1. but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Romans 5:10 - ESV

1. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

1 Corinthians 1:30 - ESV

1. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 - ESV

1. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
2. 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.

2 Corinthians 5:21 - ESV

1. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 1:3-4 - ESV

1. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
2. who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

Galatians 3:13 - ESV

1. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” —

Ephesians 1:3-4 - ESV

1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
2. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

Ephesians 2:15-16 - ESV

1. by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
2. and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Ephesians 5:25-26 - ESV

1. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
2. that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

Philippians 1:29 - ESV

1. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

Colossians 1:13-14 - ESV

1. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
2. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:21-22 - ESV

1. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
2. he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

1 Timothy 1:15 - ESV

1. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

Titus 2:14 - ESV

1. who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Titus 3:5-6 - ESV

1. he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
2. whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Hebrews 9:12 - ESV

1. he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:14 - ESV

1. how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Hebrews 13:12 - ESV

1. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

1 Peter 2:24 - ESV

1. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 3:18 - ESV

1. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

1 John 1:7 - ESV

1. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Jesus Fulfills the Eternal Covenant

John 6:35-40 - ESV

1. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
2. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
3. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
4. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
5. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
6. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 10:11 - ESV

1. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:14-18 - ESV

1. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
2. just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
3. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
4. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
5. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

John 10:24-29 - ESV

1. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
2. Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,
3. but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
4. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
5. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
6. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

John 17:1-11 - ESV

1. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
2. since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
4. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
5. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
6. “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
7. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
8. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
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. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

John 17:20 - ESV

1. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

John 17:24-26 - ESV

1. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
2. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
3. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Romans 5:12 - ESV

1. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned —

Romans 5:17-19 - ESV

1. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
2. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
3. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Ephesians 1:3-12 - ESV

1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
2. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
3. he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
4. to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
5. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
6. which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
7. making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
8. as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
9. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
10. so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

How Jesus Died for “All” and Yet for a Particular People

These texts speak of Christ’s saving work in general terms:

John 1:9 - ESV

1. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

John 1:29 - ESV

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

John 3:16-17 - ESV

1. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
2. 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.

John 4:42 - ESV

1. 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.”

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 - ESV

1. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
2. 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.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 - ESV

1. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
2. 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.

1 Timothy 2:4-6 - ESV

1. who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
3. who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Hebrews 2:9 - ESV

1. 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.

2 Peter 3:9 - ESV

1. 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.

1 John 2:1-2 - ESV

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

1 John 4:9-10 - ESV

1. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
2. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

One reason for the use of these expressions was to correct the false notion that salvation was for the Jews alone. Such phrases as “the world,” “all men,” “all nations,” and “every creature” were used by the New Testament writers to emphatically correct this mistake. These expressions are intended to show that Christ died for all men without distinction (i.e., he died for Jews and Gentiles alike), but they are not intended to indicate that Christ died for all men without exception (i.e., he did not die for the purpose of saving each and every lost sinner).

Christ’s Definite Saving Work

These texts speak of Christ’s saving work in definite terms and show that it was intended to infallibly save a particular people, namely, those given to him by the Father:

Matthew 1:21 - ESV

1. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 20:28 - ESV

1. even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 26:28 - ESV

1. for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

John 10:11 - ESV

1. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 11:50-53 - ESV

1. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
2. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
3. and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
4. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Acts 20:28 - ESV

1. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Romans 8:32-34 - ESV

1. 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?
2. Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
3. 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.

Ephesians 5:25-27 - ESV

1. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
2. that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
3. so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Hebrews 2:17 - ESV

1. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 3:1 - ESV

1. Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

Hebrews 9:15 - ESV

1. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 9:28 - ESV

1. so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Revelation 5:9 - ESV

1. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,