Universal Atonement
37 anchored versesEvery verse the platform anchors this doctrine to, in canonical order, with the note, the objection where there is one, the answer, and the cross-references.
Numbers
Every Israelite bitten by the serpents could look at the bronze serpent and live; the remedy was as wide as the plague. Jesus makes this the very picture of His cross — lifted up so that whosoever believeth should not perish.
Isaiah
The Lord calls the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved. Salvation is offered to all, for there is no other God and no other Saviour.
The Servant is given for a light to the Gentiles, to be God's salvation unto the end of the earth. Redemption was never meant for one nation but for the ends of the earth.
All we like sheep have gone astray, and the LORD laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The same 'all' that wandered is the 'all' whose sin was placed on the Servant — the payment is exactly as wide as the straying.
Doesn't the 'us all' mean only the elect sheep whose iniquity was borne?
The verse gives no two flocks. The 'all' whose iniquity is laid on the Servant is the very 'all' who like sheep have gone astray — the whole straying race. The reach of the guilt-bearing matches the reach of the wandering, word for word.
The Servant bears the sin of many and justifies many by His knowledge; He was numbered with the transgressors and made intercession for them. He carries the guilt of the multitude.
Every one that thirsts is called to the waters, to buy without money and without price. The invitation excludes no one; the provision is free and it is for all.
Joel
Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered. The door is opened by the word 'whosoever' — no sinner who calls is shut out.
Matthew
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The call goes out to all the weary, and none who come are turned away.
The Son of man gives His life a ransom for many. The 'many' is the great multitude of mankind He came to redeem, not a narrowed few.
'A ransom for many' shows Christ died for many, not for all.
'Many' is set against the one who gives His life, not against 'all' — it marks the multitude He redeems over against Himself alone. Paul reads the same truth as 'a ransom for all' in 1 Timothy 2:6; the many and the all name the same great number of mankind.
Mark
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. The offer is as universal as the command, because the payment behind it is universal.
Luke
The angel brings good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. The Saviour's birth is announced as good news for everyone.
The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. His mission is defined by the lost as such — He comes for the perishing.
John
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John names the whole world as the object of the Lamb's sin-bearing work.
'The sin of the world' means the sin of the elect gathered out of every nation.
John the Baptist puts no qualifier on 'the world.' The Lamb takes away the sin of the world in the same broad sense Scripture everywhere gives the word — the whole fallen order, not a hidden remnant read into the text.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. The cross is the antitype of the serpent — a remedy displayed for all, received by faith.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The love reaches the world; the life reaches the one who believes.
'The world' means only the world of the elect whom God loves savingly.
The world God loves is the same world under condemnation in verse 18 and needing to be saved in verse 17 — a world that includes those who finally perish, for the passage warns that some believe not. God loves the world; life comes to the one who believes.
God sent His Son that the world through Him might be saved. The purpose of the sending is the salvation of the world, not its narrowing.
The men of Samaria confess Him the Saviour of the world. The title is given without limit — He saves the world, not one nation only.
The bread He gives is His flesh, which He will give for the life of the world. His body is broken with the whole world's life in view.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. The lifting up of the cross draws all men toward Christ — the pull of Calvary is held out to the whole world, not to a chosen few.
Acts
Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. Peter preaches forgiveness to any and every believer without restriction.
Romans
In due time Christ died for the ungodly. Not for the righteous, but for the ungodly as such — the class that takes in every sinner.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died for men in their sin, not for the already-worthy.
As by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. The 'all men' condemned in Adam is the 'all men' toward whom the free gift is held out.
If the free gift 'came upon all men unto justification,' this would teach universal salvation, so 'all' must mean the elect.
The gift came upon all men as an offer and provision, just as condemnation came upon all in Adam; but justification of life is received through faith, as the surrounding verses make plain. The provision is for all; the possession is by believing. That guards both the universal reach and the necessity of faith.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Paul seals the offer with 'whosoever' — the same open door Joel proclaimed.
God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all. The reach of His mercy answers the reach of the ruin.
2 Corinthians
If one died for all, then were all dead; and He died for all, that they which live should live unto Him. The death of Christ measures the death of the race — He died for all, and all are proven dead by it.
The all who died is the all He died for — so this proves He died only for the elect who die to sin.
Paul's logic runs the other way: Christ's death 'for all' is the proof that 'all were dead.' The all who are dead is the whole race in sin, and the all He died for is that same race. The payment is universal even though only those who live to Him are saved.
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. The world is the object of the reconciling work of the cross.
Colossians
It pleased the Father by Him to reconcile all things, having made peace through the blood of His cross. The blood of the cross is the ground of a reconciliation cosmic in scope.
1 Timothy
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. The ransom is paid for all — the price is stated without limit.
'A ransom for all' might mean all kinds of men, not all men without exception.
The 'all' of verse 6 is the same 'all men' of verse 4 whom God wills to be saved and verse 1 for whom prayer is commanded. Paul is not narrowing to classes; the ransom is stated as wide as the prayer and the saving will.
The living God is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. He is Saviour of all by the sufficiency of the ransom, and Saviour of believers in the actual saving — sufficient for all, efficient for those who believe.
How can He be 'the Saviour of all men' if all men are not saved?
He is the Saviour of all men in that His ransom is paid for all, and the Saviour 'specially of those that believe' in that it is applied to them. The verse itself draws the two-fold line — sufficient for all, efficient for those who believe.
Titus
The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Grace has dawned upon all — the offer is set before the whole world.
'All men' here means all classes — slave and free, Jew and Gentile — not every person.
The grace that has appeared is the same gospel commanded to be preached to every creature. Even granting 'all classes,' the point stands that grace is held out with no group shut out; the plain force of the words is that salvation-bringing grace has appeared to all men.
Hebrews
Jesus by the grace of God tasted death for every man. Not for a select portion, but for every man — the cross is measured man by man across the race.
'Every man' could be limited to every one of the elect.
The writer chooses the widest term, 'every man,' set against the whole human family he has been describing. Nothing in the text narrows 'every man' to a chosen few; it says what it says — He tasted death for every man.
The apostate is said to have trodden underfoot the Son of God and counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, wherewith he was sanctified. Even the one who finally perishes was set apart by blood shed for him.
How could an apostate be 'sanctified' by the blood if Christ did not die for him?
The text says the man who finally tramples the Son was sanctified — set apart — by the blood of the covenant. He could only despise a blood that was shed for him. It shows the atonement reached even those who perish through unbelief.
2 Peter
The false teachers deny the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. Men who perish were nonetheless bought by the Master — the purchase reached even them.
If Christ bought these false teachers, how can they perish? Surely He bought only the elect.
Peter says plainly that the Lord bought them and that they bring on themselves swift destruction. The purchase was real and it reached men who are lost — proof that being bought by Christ and being finally saved are not the same. The blood is sufficient for all; it saves only those who believe.
1 John
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. The apostle deliberately widens the payment past 'ours' to the whole world.
Doesn't 'the whole world' just mean the elect scattered through the world, or believers everywhere?
John has already said 'our sins,' meaning himself and his believing readers. He then reaches past that circle — 'and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.' If the whole world were only believers, the second phrase would add nothing to the first; the words demand a payment wider than the church.
The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. John states the mission of Christ in the widest terms — the world's Saviour.
Revelation
The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. The Bible's last invitation is its widest — whosoever will may come, and come for nothing.