the way i see it, there are three ways of understanding the atonement:
1. limited atonement - Christ died for the elect but not for the unelect.
2. unlimited atonement - Christ died for the elect and the unelect.
3. definite atonement - Christ died for the elect; no comment on whether Christ died for the unelect.
Scripture clearly teaches that Christ died for the elect. but just because Christ died for the elect does not mean that Christ did not die for the unelect. of course, it does not mean that Christ died for the unelect either. it simply means that Christ died for the elect.
"At first glance, Unlimited and Limited Atonement are in opposition. But, that dilemma is resolved by noting two things. First, the two categories are not mutually exclusive; since Jesus died for the sins of everyone that means that He also died for the sins of the elect. Second, Jesus’ death for all people does not accomplish the same thing as His death for the elect. This point is complicated, but is in fact taught in Scripture (1 Tim. 4:10; 2 Peter 2:1).
ReplyDeleteSimply, by dying for everyone, Jesus purchased everyone as His possession and He then applies His forgiveness to the elect by grace and applies His wrath to the non-elect. Objectively, Jesus’ death was sufficient to save anyone, and, subjectively, only efficient to save those who repent of their sin and trust in Him. This position is called Unlimited Limited Atonement or Modified Calvinism."
The way I see it, although I nicked that from Mars Hill Church.
that's an interesting position to take and i think it makes sense... thanks for bringing it up dan!
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