05/08/2026
Hi! Pastor Chris here.
Today, someone asked me about limited atonement (they are against it) as opposed to unlimited atonement (which they agree with). I believe in Limited atonement meaning: The rewards of Christ's atonement are for a pre-selected group, chosen by God before creation and Time. Here is my response.
NOTE: This is important theology, and by necessity, long. If you want to dig in, then well-done for wanting this important info!
What about teaching a “Limited Atonement “? Christ only died for the elect?
To properly understand my case (and the bibles), you will have to read to the end...
I take your question seriously, and as you will see from my reply, I wanted to thoughtfully and thoroughly answer (which took a bit of time). Please take the time to read and prayerfully consider it...
The only people you will see in heaven will be the elect. I used to be Arminian. That was due to an incorrect view of God's Sovereignty, even over the atonement and who are it's beneficiaries… And I too was a Pastor for many years. One can grow in their understanding...
Mat 22:13-14 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
These verses conclude Jesus’s parable of the Wedding Feast. Many are called – How many? Jesus’s work is on record, as is His gospel: “Repent and Believe” in the Christ of God. That message was preached broadly, to all. Many are called...
Joh 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Out of the “All” of the worlds generations of people, Christ will save “ALL” of the elect…
Mat 24:21-22 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. :22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Thus it can be fairly said that BECAUSE Christ will save only the elect, that the rewards of the atonement are provided only for them. For IF God made election open for anyone, than everyone would be given faith for salvation.
Who then are the elect? They are the one’s whom God chose. When? “Before the foundations of the world.” In other words, Before Time Began. Thus, there was no “portal of time” for the Father to look down to see who would choose Him and thus “obtain, attain and Merit” salvation for themselves….
Eph 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Thus the elect are NOT the elect because they chose Christ of their own Free-will (a work). They are ELECT – whether they have yet to be saved or not - by the Father (before any portal of time existed), that one day IN Time He would send the Holy Spirit to (a) abide in them, (b) bringing with Him saving faith AS A GIFT, (c) That on day they would be able to accept that (d) they are sinners unable to redeem themselves...(e) condemned to hell. That the ONLY chance of not going to hell is to repent and believe on the Christ of God (and no other savior). They then (f) Cry out to Jesus for salvation and are given the grace that follows saving grace...
Rom 9:11 ..though they (Jacob and Esau) were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
That election occurs as a work of The Father before the foundation of the World and the creation of time means that He “Knows” them ahead of their salvation...The biblical definition of “foreknowledge” in soteriology…
Rom 8:29-30 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
You may recognize this as “The Golden Chain of Redemption.” These verses clearly state The Work Of God in salvation IN FULL, and the foreknowledge mentioned here speaks of the election, choosing, and selection of someone BEFORE time and the earth began…
..Before the Earth and Time: God ~ “Foreknew...Predestined (to be conformed/sanctified)…
..After Christ came: God – Called...Justified...Glorified. This last step will be fully established at the resurrection of believers at the 2nd coming.
Act 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed (by the Father) to eternal life believed.
Anyone can claim salvation in Christ – see Mat 13:1-9; 24-30. But not all are the elect. And regarding the/those elect of God…
Joh 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out…. ..Joh 6:39-40 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Joh 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will sn**ch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to sn**ch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”
Now here’s the thing:
The normal Arminian response is to quote me back all of the verses regarding man’s free-will. So let me just say – I acknowledge them all, believe in them all, and used them myself as a defense of Armianism. But time, study and prayerful consideration over 11 years brought me a great epiphany “one day”:
YES – man has free will and man does indeed choose or reject Christ. However – man's free-will is always Secondary and subject to the Sovereign's Free-will, because God alone is Primary Cause over all the universe and that which is contained therein. Why? Because God Is Sovereign over all, including salvation.
Human Free-Will is something LIMITED by fallen man’s capacity to cry out to God for salvation outside of His first moving on them (as I described above in detail). No human is damned because God CHOOSES to damn them. They are damned already (Joh 3:18) because they are born into the curse of Adam and by nature do not believe. This is a “pre-existent condition” of every single human ever born, save Adam, Eve and Christ. That includes the elect. And a "dead spirit" "WILL" (of their own free-will) never desire Christ and His Lordship or salvation.
God enters the pic has He has already chosen/elected some to be His family (Eph 1). The rest can do what they desire and what they desire is to be their own God, Lord and Savior. The elect will also make the same choice, right up until the moment the LORD sends the Holy Spirit to them because it has now become that individual’s “day of salvation!”
But: Salvation is there to be chosen by any individual. The one who is not elect WILL reject the gospel and will be held to account for their choice. If God showed no mercy in election, none would be saved, for we are all born with spirits dead to Christ and salvation. It is not because God chose to not save anyone. God did not have to do that, for all justly deserve hell. EVERYONE can ask God for forgiveness and salvation. But only the elect "WILL" (man's free-will) ask, mean it and ultimately persevere in faith and die believers.
Here’s the epiphany:
God is Sovereign, even over man’s salvation… Think about it: What is God’s Greatest work? The creation of angels? Planets? Animals? No. God’s greatest single work is humanity, for we alone are made in His image and likeness. So it makes perfect sense that God’s Grandest act is the salvation of men. It is His work alone that brings about salvation, and it is His work alone which brings about the Golden Chain, and ultimately our glorification and perfection as imagers of God.
To say that in this grandest of HIS work, God is lowered to be subject to man’s free-will, making Him the EFFECT of man’s free-will and removing His Sovereignty, giving man power over God in salvation. But He is NOT a weak and unsure God in Heaven - Nervously wringing His hands in worry, hoping that some will decide they want Him. He is NOT Bound, unable to act in faith, grace and salvation unless a human first chooses Him.
God has never and will never be subject to human choice. He is Sovereign over all, INCLUDING the Greatest Work: Atonement, Salvation and Adoption into His family: “In Christ-Jesus.”
This amounts to little else than man trying to take credit over God for God's single greatest Act: The Salvation of humans.
And when I realized this, I experienced a revival which has not gone away in 5 years!
Much Love, Chris
