LIMITED ATONEMENT - THE IDEA THAT JESUS ONLY PAID FOR THE SINS OF THOSE WHO WOULD AVAIL OF HIS WORK

The Bible teaches that God destines people for happiness in Heaven or for torment in Hell forever and does not consider their good works for they have none for they are locked in rebellion against God unless he helps them. It teaches that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins so that God could set us free. Putting the doctrines all together means Jesus did not intend to save those who were set for Hell. Jesus died only for those who are elected for Heaven by God without any conditions.

The Bible says that Jesus was the Lamb of God. Lambs were killed to atone for the sins of the people. But did Jesus die for every person on earth or did he just die for those who God has chosen for salvation with the elect?

If unconditional election is true then he did. He did not intend to save those who were not predestined for Heaven.

But if unconditional election is false then he still could have not have died for everybody. He would only have died for those who repent.  

The Other Side of Calvinism asserts that the Bible never says that the world Jesus died for or the all he saved means all the people chosen for salvation and not the whole world (page 248). I answer that it does not have to. John wrote that Jesus died not only for “our” sins but for those of the whole world. Whole world could have loosely meant those who were destined to be saved but not saved yet. Even if he did mean the whole world it would still not refute limited atonement. Jesus could have died for the elect, those who were predestined for salvation, in the substitution sense. His death was meant to save them. But he also died for those who would not be saved but not in the substitution sense. He died to win graces from God to keep them in better check but not with a view to forgiving them or making them holy. He died for their sins too. They might not have saving faith but have an unsaving faith which has its benefits too.

God cannot pay for your sins on the cross and then make you pay for them in Hell. It is replied that Hell is not God punishing you but you punishing yourself and refusing to be happy. That is a lie because God can stop you feeling sad for you can’t control feelings like the channels on a remote control television. He must do something to the damned when they will not change. And the damned don’t punish themselves for they believe they have done nothing to be punished for and that they were right to seek their own way not God’s.

If we are saved by faith alone as the Bible says, then it follows that those who do not believe will be the ones who will have to pay for their own sins in Hell forever. The Bible says that Jesus paid the debt of sin to God for believers only so everybody else has to pay for their own sins in Hell. The Bible says that unbelief is a sin. Now if unbelief is a sin and Jesus died for all sins as most Christians say then Jesus died for the sin of unbelief meaning that nobody goes to Hell. So justification by faith alone contradicts itself.

Jesus’ death was sufficient to save a million worlds but it saved only the chosen.