Is the Atonement Efficient for All?

It may seem senseless to ask if the atonement is universally efficient, seeing that all Calvinists deny universal redemption. But it remains an important question because not all Calvinists agree that the atonement is efficacious. By efficacious, we mean the objective power of the atonement that caused it to secure its own application. Thus, the question is not, did the atonement make sinners savable, but, did the atonement effectually procure its own application, including saving faith, for those for whom Christ died?

Those Who Say No

Low Calvinists believe in unlimited atonement not because they believe in universal sufficiency, but because they don’t believe that the atonement has any objective efficacy. According to Low Calvinists, including Arminians, the death of Christ did not secure salvation or saving faith for any.

Those Who Say Yes 

Five-point Calvinists, on the other hand, may differ on what exactly makes the atonement efficacious, but what keeps them unified and within the boundaries of the Canons of Dort is their shared agreement that the atonement objectively secured its own application for the elect. In short, all limited atonement advocates (Hyper-, High, and Moderate Calvinists) affirm limited efficacy, while all those affirming unlimited atonement (Low Calvinists and Arminians) are forced to deny that the atonement has any efficacy at all.

Adapted from He Died for Me: Limited Atonement & the Universal Gospel by Jeffrey Johnson