E. The Extent of the Atonement

The Scriptures represent the atonement as having been made for all men, and as sufficient for the salvation of all. Not the atonement therefore is limited, but the application of the atonement through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Upon this principle of a universal atonement, but a special application of it to the elect, we must interpret such passages as Eph. 1:4, 7; 2 Tim 1:9, 10; John 17:9, 20, 24—asserting a special efficacy of the atonement in the case of the elect; and also such passages as 2 Pet. 2:1; 1 John 2:2; Tim. 2:6; 4:10; Tit. 2:11—asserting that the death of Christ is for all.

Passages asserting special efficacy of the atonement, in the case of the elect, are the following: Eph. 1:4—“chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love”; 7—“in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace;” 2 Tim. 1:9, 10—God “who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal, but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”; John 17:9—“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me”; 20—“Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word”; 24—“Father, that which thou hast given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me,”

Passages asserting that the death of Christ is for all are the following: 2 Pet. 2:1—“false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them”; 1 John 2:2—“and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world”; 1 Tim. 2:6—Christ Jesus “who gave himself a ransom for all”; 4:10—“the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of them that believe”; Tit. 2:11—“For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” Rom. 3:22 (A. V.)—“unto all and upon all them that believe”—has sometimes been interpreted as meaning “unto all men, and upon all believers” (εἰς = destination; ἐπί = extent). But the Rev. Vers. omits the words “and upon all,” and Meyer, who retains the words, remarks that τοὺς πιστεύοντας belongs to πάντας in both instances.

Unconscious participation in the atonement of Christ, by virtue of our common humanity in him, makes us the heirs of much temporal blessing. Conscious participation in the atonement of Christ, by virtue of our faith in him and his work for us, gives us justification and eternal life. Matthew Henry said that the Atonement is “sufficient for all; effectual for many.” J. M. Whiton, in The Outlook, Sept. 25, 1897—“It was Samuel Hopkins of Rhode Island (1721–1803) who first declared that Christ had made atonement for all men, not for the elect part alone, as Calvinists affirmed.” We should say “as some Calvinists affirmed”; for, as we shall see, John Calvin himself declared that “Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world.” Alfred Tennyson once asked an old Methodist woman what was the news. “Why, Mr. Tennyson, there’s only one piece of news that I know,—that Christ died for all men.” And he said to her: “That is old news, and good news, and new news.”

If it be asked in what sense Christ is the Savior of all men, we reply:

(a) That the atonement of Christ secures for all men a delay in the execution of the sentence against sin, and a space for repentance, together with a continuance of the common blessings of life which have been forfeited by transgression.

If strict justice had been executed, the race would have been cut off at the first sin. That man lives after sinning, is due wholly to the Cross. There is a pretermission, or “passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God” (Rom. 3:25), the justification of which is found only in the sacrifice of Calvary. This “passing over,” however, is limited in its duration: see Acts 17:30, 31—“The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained.”

One may get the benefit of the law of gravitation without understanding much about its nature, and patriarchs and heathen have doubtless been saved through Christ’s atonement, although they have never heard his name, but have only cast themselves as helpless sinners upon the mercy of God. That mercy of God was Christ, though they did not know it. Our modern pious Jews will experience a strange surprise when they find that not only forgiveness of sin but every other blessing of life has come to them through the crucified Jesus. Matt. 8:11—“many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”

Dr. G. W. Northrup held that the work of Christ is universal in three respects: 1. It reconciled God to the whole race, apart from personal transgression; 2. It secured the bestowment upon all of common grace, and the means of common grace; 3. It rendered certain the bestowment of eternal life upon all who would so use common grace and the means of common grace as to make it morally possible for God as a wise and holy Governor to grant his special and renewing grace.

(b) That the atonement of Christ has made objective provision for the salvation of all, by removing from the divine mind every obstacle to the pardon and restoration of sinners, except their wilful opposition to God and refusal to turn to him.

Van Oosterzee, Dogmatics, 604—“On God’s side, all is now taken away which could make a separation,—unless any should themselves choose to remain separated from him.” The gospel message is not: God will forgive if you return; but rather: God has shown mercy; only believe, and it is your portion in Christ.

Ashmore, The New Trial of the Sinner, in Christian Review, 26:245–364—“The atonement has come to all men and upon all men. Its coëxtensiveness with the effects of Adam’s sin is seen in that all creatures, such as infants and insane persons, incapable of refusing it, are saved without their consent, just as they were involved in the sin of Adam without their consent. The reason why others are not saved is because when the atonement comes to them and upon them, instead of consenting to be included in it, they reject it. If they are born under the curse, so likewise they are born under the atonement which is intended to remove that curse; they remain under its shelter till they are old enough to repudiate it; they shut out its influences as a man closes his window-blind to shut out the beams of the sun; they ward them off by direct opposition, as a man builds dykes around his field to keep out the streams which would otherwise flow in and fertilize the soil.”

(c) That the atonement of Christ has procured for all men the powerful incentives to repentance presented in the Cross, and the combined agency of the Christian church and of the Holy Spirit, by which these incentives are brought to bear upon them.

Just as much sun and rain would be needed, if only one farmer on earth were to be benefited. Christ would not need to suffer more, if all were to be saved. His sufferings, as we have seen, were not the payment of a pecuniary debt. Having endured the penalty of the sinner, justice permits the sinner’s discharge, but does not require it, except as the fulfilment of a promise to his substitute, and then only upon the appointed condition of repentance and faith. The atonement is unlimited,—the whole human race might be saved through it; the application of the atonement is limited,—only those who repent and believe are actually saved by it.

Robert G. Farley: “The prospective mother prepares a complete and beautiful outfit for her expected child. But the child is still-born. Yet the outfit was prepared just the same as if it had lived. And Christ’s work is completed as much for one man as for another, as much for the unbeliever as for the believer.”

Christ is specially the Savior of those who believe, in that he exerts a special power of his Spirit to procure their acceptance of his salvation. This is not, however, a part of his work of atonement; it is the application of the atonement, and as such is hereafter to be considered.

Among those who hold to a limited atonement is Owen. Campbell quotes him as saying: “Christ did not die for all the sins of all men; for if this were so, why are not all freed from the punishment of all their sins? You will say, ‘Because of their unbelief—they will not believe.’ But this unbelief is a sin, and Christ was punished for it. Why then does this, more than other sins, hinder them from partaking of the fruits of his death?”

So also Turretin, loc. 4, quæs. 10 and 17; Symington, Atonement, 184–234; Candlish on the Atonement; Cunnningham, Hist. Theol., 2:323–370; Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2:464–489. For the view presented in the text, see Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 374; 689–698; 706–709; Wardlaw, Syst. Theol., 2:485–549; Jenkyn, Extent of the Atonement; E. P. Griffin, Extent of the Atonement; Woods, Works, 2:490–521; Richards, Lectures on Theology, 302–327.