Jesus’ Saving Work: For Everyone or for Some?

God has acted to redeem fallen humanity. He sent his Son to make the ultimate sacrifice on the cross to give his life to pay the price for sins and to reconcile sinners to a holy God. But for whom did Jesus actually die? Did he die on the cross for every human being (universal atonement), or only for those who are specifically chosen to believe (limited atonement)?

What Is the Atonement?

The Bible’s central message is atonement. From the first stories in Genesis to the last visions of Revelation it is everywhere apparent that God seeks to reconcile his people to himself and that he has provided a way to do so.

God’s act of atonement is necessary because all people are sinners. We are universally alienated from and hostile to God. We are dead in our sins. We are subject to God’s hostility toward evil, and to his righteous judgment.

The New Testament presents the person and work of Christ as God’s ultimate provision for atonement. The atonement of Christ is the sacrificial work of Jesus for sinners. In his death on the cross, Christ atoned for the sins of humanity such that God is satisfied and reconciliation is accomplished for all who will be redeemed. The obedience and death of Christ on behalf of sinners is the ground of redemption.

The death of God’s Son is the only perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sins. It is of infinite value, more than enough to cover the sins of the whole world. This death is of such great worth because the person who submitted to it is not only a true and perfectly holy man, but also the only-begotten Son of God. He is of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit. These qualifications were necessary for him to be our Savior. 

The atonement is described in many ways in the New Testament. Here are a few aspects of Christ’s atonement:

• 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NLT) All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
• 1 John 4:10 (NLT) This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 
• Matthew 20:28 (NLT) “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
• Matthew 26:28 (NLT) “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

With this in mind, the question remains: for whom did Jesus die on the cross to accomplish this atonement?

Universal Atonement

Arminians believe that when Christ died he took upon himself every sin for every human being throughout time. Since God’s predestined purpose is to save believers in Christ, he sent Christ to die for all, so that whoever believes in him might be saved. The work of Christ is not limited to some particular or predestined group; it is for the whole world. 

Thus the atonement is seen as a universally effective payment for sins. But Christ’s sacrifice does not actually save individuals. It only provides the potential for every individual to be saved, and so provides the basis for a universal offer of salvation. But the benefits of Christ’s death are applied when a human being responds to the offer of salvation by faith. Humans are able to freely choose or reject the atonement Jesus made on the cross. While Jesus, by his death on the cross, obtained redemption and forgiveness of sins for all, no one actually enjoys this forgiveness of sins except the believer.

In Exodus 12, the Passover Lamb was slain and the blood was applied to the doorposts of people’s homes to deliver Israel from God’s judgment on Egypt. Likewise Arminians distinguish between Christ’s death and the application of his blood to believers. Christ’s death makes salvation possible for all, and God desires all to believe and be saved through His blood, but only those who apply the atonement to themselves, by faith, are actually cleansed by Christ’s blood.

Many passages say that Christ died for the world or for all people. While “world” has a broad range of meanings, that range does not include any definition that would deny the conclusion that Christ died for everyone. 

Arminians emphasize Bible passages that describe the universal scope of Jesus’ saving work:

• John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
• John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
• John 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
• 1 Timothy 2:3-6 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. 
• Hebrews 2:9  But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
• 1 John 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
• 1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

Limited Atonement

So for Arminians, Christ’s redeeming work made it possible for everyone to be saved, but it did not actually secure the salvation of anyone. Christ’s redemption becomes effective only if a person chooses to accept it. Calvinists believe, however, that Jesus fulfilled his atoning work only for the elect. In order to accomplish the salvation of those God has previously chosen, God sent Jesus, his Son, to die specifically for the sins of his chosen, so that they can receive eternal life. 

Calvinists celebrate the real efficacy of what Jesus accomplished. When he took the sins of the elect upon himself on the cross, he actually provided a full atonement for their sins, which definitely secured salvation for them. Christ’s atonement was not merely a potential saving work, but effectively accomplished everything necessary for their salvation, including the faith which they exercise. Faith is itself a gift of God, which the Spirit applies to the lives of the elect. Thus one Calvinist writer said: “Were Christ to sacrifice and die for someone and then that person did not choose to be saved, it would make Christ’s work a failure.” 

The Puritan theologian John Owen argued that if, as Arminians believe, Christ died for all people’s sins, then why isn’t everyone free from God’s punishment? He imagines that Arminians will respond, “Because they did not believe.” Owen asks, “Isn’t unbelief a sin?” He argues that if it is, then on the cross, Christ suffered the punishment for that sin. Then why would unbelief prevent a person from being saved, if the sin of unbelief was paid for just as all their other sins were?

Calvinists tend to cite Bible passages that point to a more definite focus of Jesus’ saving work:

• Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
• Matthew 20:28 “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
• John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
• John 13:1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
• Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
• Ephesians 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
• Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

The Takeaway

Arminians and Calvinists both believe in God’s initiative in salvation, and that forgiveness of sin and eternal life is ours through Jesus Christ alone. No one becomes saved by professing belief in limited atonement or in universal atonement. Both sides emphasize the need for faith in the person and work of Jesus. Both sides of the debate should appreciate the emphasis of the other part on who Jesus is, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the grave. All believers affirm the glory of Christ’s atonement when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, when we baptize new believers, and when we celebrate Christmas and Easter. Christ did certainly die for all of his true followers. We may debate whether or not he died for others as well, but those of us who belong to him can worship together, side by side, our wonderful, gracious Savior.