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John 10:14–15
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
We will finish our brief look at the atonement of Jesus today by considering the intent of the atonement. Did God intend the atonement to effectually save a particular people such that everyone for whom Christ died will actually be saved? Or did God plan the atonement in such a way that some people for whom Christ died will not be saved? Did the atonement make salvation actual for a specific people, or did it make salvation merely possible for all people? The view that God intended for Christ to atone for the sins of only His elect people is commonly known as limited atonement or particular redemption.
In looking at this question, we must first be clear that Christians on both sides agree on the objective value of the atonement. Because the death of Christ is the death of an infinitely worthy person—the divine person of the Son of God, who suffered in His human nature—His death has infinite objective value. He does not have to do anything more to redeem one billion people than He must do to save one hundred people. The Canons of Dort, which codified our understanding of limited atonement, speak to the objective value of Christ’s death. “This death of God’s Son is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins; it is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world” (II.3).
Nevertheless, while the atonement is of infinite objective value, the Bible tells us that Christ did not go to the cross to atone for the sins of all people without exception. He paid a specific price for the specific sins of a specific people. As we see in today’s passage, Jesus laid down His life for His sheep (John 10:14–15), and we know that not all people are Christ’s sheep. Some are goats who do not belong to Him (Matt. 25:31–46).
Those who reject the teaching of limited atonement believe that God died for all people without exception, purchasing salvation for all. Yet that would mean that the Lord has failed in His saving purposes if He truly wants all people to be saved, for not all people are saved in the end (Rev. 20:11–15). If we can thwart God’s saving purposes, what hope do we have? Our only hope is that Christ died for the specific sins of specific people such that His atonement ensures that all for whom it is given will come to faith and persevere in that faith until the end.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Many people believe that God’s highest desire is for all people to be saved. Yet if that is so, then we must conclude that God has failed, that He cannot save some people because not all people are saved. Limited atonement affirms that God’s saving purpose in the atonement is fully and completely achieved. By the cross, He saves everyone whom He wants to save.
For further study
- Psalm 68:20
- John 10:26
The bible in a year
- Daniel 11–12
- 3 John 1–15
- Hosea 1–6
- Jude 1–Revelation 1