Limited Atonement 1 Tim. 2:4 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Limited atonement is the doctrine that Jesus only died for the unconditionally elect. We want to look at Limited Atonement today so that we are not hood winked into believing this erroneous doctrine. Look at the following verses and notice that this doctrine could not possibly be true. You would have to change the words in the following verses to mean something that they don’t say in order to “prove” your doctrine. That’s not Bible; that’s men!!
TULIP is the acrostic for the doctrine of Calvinism which says basically that Jesus died for only the saved and they have already been elected to salvation while the damned have no way to be saved. They couldn’t be saved if they wanted to because Christ didn’t die for them and they are too depraved to come to him on their own.
Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the saints
Notice that there is no limited atonement in these verses in the Bible.
All men to be saved – 1 Tim 2:4. “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth”. You would have to redefine the word all to mean all the elect in order to justify limited atonement. But then you would have to redefine all again in verse 1, because many kings and men in authority were not saved [v.2].
Ransom for all – 1 Tim 2:6. “Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”. Again you would have to redefine the word all to mean all the elect but then you would have trouble with Acts 20:26. Paul wouldn’t concern himself with being free from the blood of all men if those who didn’t believe [Acts 28:24] were already predestined to hell.
Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance – 2 Pet 3:9. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. The trouble here is with the words “any” and “all”. They are not limited by definition or context to “the elect”.
Denying the Lord that bought them – 2 Pet 2:1. “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction”. There is no way that these false teachers and prophets are saved and yet the Lord “bought them”. This cannot be limited atonement.
One died for all – 2 Cor 5:14. “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead”. All die and Christ died for all. All means all in both cases, not all and only those for whom Jesus died.
The Saviour of all men – 1 Tim 4:10. “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe”. Here those who believe are a subset of all men of whom Jesus Christ is the Saviour. In other words, he is the Saviour of all men and he saves those who believe in him.
Taste death for every man – Heb 2:9. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man”. Jesus tasted death for EVERY man.
Christ died for the ungodly – Rom 5:6. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”. Christ didn’t just die for the elect; he died for the ungodly.
For the sins of the whole world – 1 John 2:2. “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”. Here is one of the greatest verses on the atonement of Jesus Christ. He was the propitiation for our sins [those of us who are saved] and for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD [including those who aren’t saved].
Conclusion: the doctrine of limited atonement is a doctrine of man not a doctrine of the Bible.