For Whom Did Christ die?
Written by Caleb Corneloup

An important question concerning the atonement of Jesus Christ is “for whom did Christ die”? There are two main views on the extent of the atonement, the first is particular atonement and the second is universal atonement. Particular atonement is the view that Jesus died only for an elect people chosen before the foundation of the world and universal atonement is the view that Jesus died for all mankind without distinction. In this essay I will seek to defend, from scripture, the view of universal atonement. There are many scriptures which set forth the death of Jesus Christ as being for the whole world, for all men, every man, and even for persons who can or will perish eternally[1].

There are numerous passages which set forth the sacrifice of Jesus as being for the whole world, particularly Johns Gospel and First Epistle; “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”, “for God so loved the world that He gave his only Son … that the world through him might be saved”, “the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world”, “for I came not to judge the world but to save the world”, “this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world”, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” and “we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”[2].

The word “world” or “cosmos” can have various meanings within John’s writings, sometimes it refers to the universe, or the physical earth, even to the world system, however whenever it refers to persons or people the interpretation is always “everyone”, unless its hyperbole. It is never used to refer to a limited group in either the NT or in any other literature written in the Greek language[3].

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, receiving praise from those who had come to the feast, He encountered many Jews, including the Pharisees, who did not believe upon Him or would not openly confess their belief in Him. Jesus responded by crying out the following words[4];

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. John 12:47


Even John Calvin agrees that here in this verse Jesus is deliberately, lovingly and publicly stating that He is withholding His judgement, for a time and until the last day, while freely offering salvation to all, including those who have rejected Him[5].

One further example from John is his Epistle to the Christians living in Asia Minor. The first Epistle of John was written in a style suited to Hellenistic readers for the purpose of re-stating the Gospel, assuring the recipients in their faith and refuting an elitist form of Gnosticism resembling Doceticism[6]. In this context John pens these important words;

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1John 2:2

These words make it plain that sacrifice of Jesus was not only for a certain secret group or even only for those who believe, but rather for the whole world.  

In addition to the verses above there are also numerous passages which plainly confirm that Jesus died for every man. The NT refers to all men in the following passages; “Who gave Himself a ransom for all”, “we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe”, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men”, “he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” and “even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life”[7].

The phrases “all men” or “every man” in these passages must be understood as referring to every single person of all generations. For sake of brevity I will focus on one passage in particular;

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 1 Timothy 2:1-6

It is clear from the context of this passage that God wants believers to pray for all men without distinction. Any attempt to limit the scope of our prayers to some of all sorts of men is unnatural. In order to be faithful to the text Paul must be understood as instructing believers to prayer for all of all sorts of men, for kings and all who are in authority. Such is the Christian duty. Paul continues by giving the reason why we should pray for all men, namely that God desires all men to be saved, that there is only one meditator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and that Christ gave himself as a ransom for all men[8].    

There are many scriptures that those who affirm particular atonement raise in order to limit whom it is that Christ died for. They draw phrases from the NT such as “for he shall save his people from their sins” and “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep”, “feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” and “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”[9].

These arguments lack strength because they only affirm that Jesus died for His people or His sheep, something universal atonement advocates already agree with, and there is nothing in these verses that would specifically limit who Jesus died for.

Furthermore if we examine the sheep spoken of in John’s Gospel, we see that Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” and “a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers, therefore, by Jesus own definition, “sheep” cannot refer to all the elect because even the elect are born enemies of God and sinners. Instead the sheep Jesus is describing are the Jewish remnant who will leave the Jewish religious community and follow Jesus[10].

One frequent objection raised by those who advocate particular atonement is that if Jesus bore the sins of the world on the cross, then how can God continue to hold sin against anyone? Isn’t that double jeopardy? It’s worth pointing out that those who believe in particular atonement face the same problem. The elect are not born forgiven, neither are they forgiven before the foundation of the world. They are only forgiven when they believe. Furthermore the atonement of Jesus cannot be compared to Angelo-American systems of justice, rather they ought to be compared to the sacrificial system in the Mosaic Law. On the Day of Atonement the goat was killed at the altar, the blood was brought into the Most Holy Place and then the blood was sprinkled in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. Atonement was not fully made until all three aspects were fulfilled. Christ death corresponds to the goat’s death at the altar, his ascension corresponds to the blood being brought into the Most Holy Place and believers are sprinkled with Christ’s blood when they believe the gospel. The Tabernacle is a shadow of the heavenly Tabernacle in heaven[11].  

When scripture uses such clear and sweeping language as “the whole world” and “all men” or “everyman”, it’s hard to imagine what better words could have been chosen by the NT writers to convey the simple truth that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. The scriptural objections raised by those who advocate particular atonement are easily understood in their context and in no way limit whom Jesus died for. Lastly the atonement of Jesus should not be compared to the Angelo-American systems of justice, rather they should be compared to the Mosaic Law’s sacrificial system which is patterned after the heavenly sanctuary.

Written By Caleb Corneloup
http://calebcorneloup.com/

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[1] Christian Theology, by Millard J. Erickson, Kindle Edition, Ch. 38.

[2] John 1:29, John 3:16 & 17, John 6:51, John 12:47, John 4:42, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:14, KJV.

[3] Redemption Redeemed: A Puritan Defence of Unlimited Atonement, by John Goodwin, Kindle Edition, Chapter 1

[4] John 12:12-19 & 36-47, KJV

[5] Calvin’s Complete Commentary, by John Calvin, Esword version, comments on John 12:47

[6] The Gospel & Epistles of John, F.F. Bruce, pg. 450 - 456

[7] 1 Timothy 4:10, Titus 2:11, Hebrews 2:9, Romans 5:18, KJV

[8] Redemption Redeemed: A Puritan Defence of Unlimited Atonement, by John Goodwin, Kindle Edition, Chapter 2.

[9] Christian Theology, by Millard J. Erickson, Kindle Edition, Ch. 38

[10] Commentary on John’s Gospel, by Frédéric Louis Godet, Kindle Edition, The development of unbelief in Israel.

[11] Leviticus 16, 1 Peter 1:2, Hebrews 8:5