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Although I certainly hold to the doctrine of limited atonement, I fear that it has led to a number of dangerous misunderstandings.

Misplacing the Focus

Firstly, it narrows our perspective on the atonement far too much. We can fail to take into account the multifaceted nature of God’s purposes, viewing everything through the terribly restricting lens of individual salvation. God’s purposes, however, stretch far, far wider than the salvation of individuals. We must pay more attention to the eschatological significance of the cross of Christ and not get bogged down in such questions. The death of Christ was the means by which God determined to restore Israel, the death of Christ was the means by which God sought to include the Gentiles, the death of Christ was the means by which God defeated Satan, the death of Christ was the means by which God sought to destroy sin, the death of Christ was the means by which God sought to judge the old creation, the death of Christ was the means by which God sought to remove the obstacle of the Torah, the death of Christ was the means by which God sought to remove His wrath from His covenant people, the death of Christ was the means by which God designed to delay the day of final judgment, the death of Christ was the means by which Christ would become the King over all men everywhere, the death of Christ was the means by which God sought to solve the Adam problem and take men out of the realm which he had created by his actions. These are but a few aspects of the death of Christ. A fixation with the question of limited atonement can lead to a terrible lack of appreciation for the complexity of this subject. The cross of Christ fulfils its purpose perfectly in each one of these plans and was effective in what it was designed to do. However, its purpose extends far further than that of mere personal salvation. Secondly, limited atonement by focusing almost exclusively upon individuals misplaces the biblical focus, which is upon the church in Christ. Thirdly, we can downplay certain of the biblical teaching concerning the people for whom Christ died (e.g. John 1:29; 6:51; 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 John 2:2; John 11:49-51). Whilst limited atonement (in its place) is true, so are these statements.

The Cross and the Sinful Nature

Fourthly, there is a danger that when we view the cross in isolation we end up with very mixed up conceptions of the atonement. This can be illustrated by the tendency inherent in much of the ‘commercial’ language used by some concerning the atonement. People want to maintain the intrinsic efficacy of the atonement and speak of the ‘infinite intrinsic merit’ of Christ’s death. They say that it was enough to save ‘a thousand worlds’. Such language throws us off-track and leads us to believe that Christ’s death was ultimately merely an act of supererogation. I think that the biblical teaching is far more powerful than this. In what sense did Christ die for sin? Many view ‘sin’ as a collection of discrete individual sins, each with there own amount of demerit, for which Christ must ‘pay’. However, the language of Scripture should challenge us to think more carefully in this area. Sin is something which is broader than its individual expressions. It has to do with a sinful nature and not just sinful actions. I fear that certain 'commercial' views of the atonement fail to do justice to the fact that the atonement must deal not only with the punishment for commited sins, but also with the sinful nature itself. Christ died to ‘take away’ the sin of the world (John 1:29), to ‘do away with’ the body of sin (Romans 6:6) and to ‘condemn sin in the flesh’ (Romans 8:3). Such language suggests more than merely doing away with the punishment for sin. The wages of sin is death, not merely a certain amount of punishment. Christ bore our sins by identifying with a sinful people and dying for them. Those who participate in His death by being united to Him by faith are partakers in His resurrection life, a life where sin no longer holds any power. Christ ‘died to sin’ (Romans 6:10) and we who are in Him die with Him. ‘Sin’ is the realm characterized by sin. Christ bore this realm down to destruction in His body. When this realm has been destroyed in Christ’s body, we who are in Him are considered dead to it and alive to the new realm constituted in Christ. All members of His body are now part of a new realm of holiness (union with Christ cannot be conceived of in any terms other than those of holiness —1 John 3:4-9). We are definitively sanctified as we are regenerated and united to Him by faith. We are progressively sanctified as we grew into one with Him by faith. Many have a limited conception of the nature of sin, allowing for the atonement's removal of the punishment of individual sins but not for the destruction of the realm of sin itself. The reason why my sins can be forgiven is because I have died with Christ to the realm of sin (of course, I still sin but I am no longer ‘constitutionally’ a ‘sinner’ if I am in Christ). Christ's atonement must deal with both the guilt and pollution of sin.

Substitution or Participation?

Fifthly, there is a failure to bring the concept of substitution into relationship with the concept of participation. We should not think of these concepts as either/or but as both/and. We are saved because we are in Christ; Christ died for us because we are in Him. We are saved because of an organic union with Christ and not because of a mere legal union. We partake of Christ’s benefits because we first partake of His Person. Christ’s death was effective for all in Him. We are in Him by the twofold bond of faith and the Holy Spirit. Who did Christ die for? For all who were or would be members of His body. As we are united to Christ by faith, the blessings of the atonement are laid open for all who will apprehend Christ by faith. No one is excluded (except by their own unbelief, over which God is, of course, sovereign). We simply call all to grasp Christ by faith and to abide in Him by faith. Outside of Christ there is no hope of salvation. As we have already seen, the cross has to deal with the problem of the sinful nature and not just the punishment for sinful actions. As sinful human nature cannot be perfected by itself, a living personal union with Jesus Christ must form the basis of our salvation. The cross is effective for us because our sinful nature died with Christ and we participate in His new life.

The Cross and the Application of Redemption

Sixthly, the application of redemption is smothered by many who argue for the limited atonement (something I certainly believe in, when defined carefully). The cross should not be viewed in isolation from Christ’s resurrection, His ascension, His intercession, Pentecost and the continual applicatory work of the Spirit. If the cross was by itself it would accomplish nothing. Seventhly, a further problem results when we make predestination the controlling principle for every aspect of redemption. This position is just not biblically justified. I think that thinkers such as Calvin have shown far more balance in this respect. Many readers of the Institutes are surprised that he does not deal with the subject of election earlier than he does.

A Cosmic Redemption

Finally, Christ, in a very important sense, did die for the whole world. At the end of history we will not see a mere fragment of the world redeemed. We will be seeing a 'new heavens and a new earth'. We will be seeing a redeemed humanity. The fact that this redeemed humanity is not composed of every historical individual does not undermine the fact that it truly is a redeemed humanity (just as the fact that not every individual in Israel was elect did not undermine the fact that Israel was an elect nation). God is putting the world to rights. As the old humanity in Adam died, so the new humanity in Christ is made alive. This is the death and resurrection of the human race. Redemption is not merely God seeing what He can salvage from a fallen world. Redemption is cosmic in its proportions and is truly putting everything to rights. For this reason Christ's redemption has determined the future of humanity as a whole, not merely of elect individuals. Let us start to put the limited atonement back into a proper perspective.