Don Green: The Gospel of Atonement

The Debate Between James White and Jason Breda on the Reformed Doctrine of Atonement

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

The Death of Death

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples

  a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
  of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
 And he will swallow up on this mountain
  the covering that is cast over all peoples,
  the veil that is spread over all nations.
  He will swallow up death forever;
 and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
  and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
  for the LORD has spoken.
 It will be said on that day,
  “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
  This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
  let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,
  and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
  as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.
 And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
  as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
  but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.
 And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
  lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust (Isaiah 25:6–12).

There is one thing that all people everywhere agree is certain: we will all die.

We mentally postpone it and avoid it. We don’t talk about it and generally don’t think about it. It is awkward to discuss and painful to ponder. But it is unavoidable. The most healthy and longest-lived people on earth are, from about age 30 on, dying. Metabolism slows. The risk of various diseases gradually increases. Quickness on the basketball court inevitably wanes. No vitamin, no nutritional supplement, can stop the process of aging. We have become experts in hiding the appearance of aging, but aging itself is our master, not our servant. And one day, perhaps far off or perhaps very soon, the heart will stop beating and we will exhale one last time. We will be swallowed up by death.

According to the Bible, however, this is not the way it is supposed to be. Death is an intrusion. It is unnatural. Although death is certain in this current age, it is a foreign invader. Consider the three pictures the Bible gives us of human life without sin: Adam and Eve before the fall, Jesus, and the new heavens and new earth. Death is present in none of these: Adam and Eve died only after they sinned (Gen. 2:17); Jesus died but rose again, conquering death (Acts 2:24); and death will no longer afflict us in our final state (Rev. 21:4).

Here in Isaiah 25 we glimpse the great promise of what God will one day do for his people. “He will swallow up death forever” (v. 8). Death will die. Death will not have the last word. To die feels so unnatural to us because we were made to live forever. And for those who trust in Christ, we will live forever—in transformed but fully physical bodies, on this globe, reigning with him.

We know this to be true because we have been united to a Savior who entered into death and came out the other side, taking us with him. Indeed, though we will die physically one day soon, we who are in Christ have already been raised spiritually (Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 15:20–23). Resurrection life has broken in on our messy little lives. One day soon we will be the resplendent, radiant men God made us to be.

Adapted from the ESV Men's Devotional Bible

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Proof for the Doctrine of Limited Atonement

The following proofs may be given for the doctrine of particular atonement: It may be laid down, first of all, as a general principle, that the designs of God are always surely efficacious and cannot be frustrated by the actions of man. This applies also to the purpose of saving men through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. If it had been His intention to save all men, this purpose could not have been frustrated by the unbelief of man. It is admitted on all hands that only a limited number is saved. Consequently, they are the only ones whom God has determined to save.

Scripture repeatedly qualifies those for whom Christ laid down His life in such a way as to point to a very definite limitation. Those for whom He suffered and died are variously called "His sheep," John 10:11, 15, "His Church," Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:25-27, "His people," Matthew 1:21, and "the elect," Romans 8:32-35. The sacrificial work of Christ and His intercessory work are simply two different aspects of His atoning work, and therefore the scope of the one can be no wider than that of the other. Now Christ very definitely limits His intercessory work, when He says: "I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me." John 17:9. Why should He limit His intercessory prayer, if He had actually paid the price for all? It should also be noted that the doctrine that Christ died for the purpose of saving all men, logically leads to absolute universalism, that is, to the doctrine that all men are actually saved.

It is impossible that they for whom Christ paid the price, whose guilt He removed, should be lost on account of that guilt. The Arminians cannot stop at their half-way station, but must go all the way. If it be said, as some do say, that the atonement was universal, but that the application of it is particular; that He made salvation possible for all, but actually saves only a limited number—it should be pointed out that there is an inseparable connection between the purchase and the actual bestowal of salvation. The Bible clearly teaches that the design and effect of the atoning work of Christ is not merely to make salvation possible, but to reconcile God and man, and to put men in actual possession of eternal salvation, a salvation which many fail to obtain, Matthew 18:11; Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; 3:13; Ephesians 1:7. And if the assertion be made that the design of God and of Christ was evidently conditional, contingent on the faith and obedience of man, attention should be called to the fact that the Bible clearly teaches that Christ by His death purchased faith, repentance, and all the other effects of the work of the Holy Spirit, for His people. Consequently these are no conditions of which the fulfilment is simply dependent on the will of man.

The atonement also secures the fulfilment of the conditions that must be met, in order to obtain salvation, Romans 2:4; Galatians 3:13, 14; Ephesians 1:3, 4; 2:8; Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 3:5, 6.

Adapted from Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology

Statement of the Reformed Position on the Extent of the Atonement

The Reformed position is that Christ died for the purpose of actually and certainly saving the elect, and the elect only. This is equivalent to saying that He died for the purpose of saving only those to whom He actually applies the benefits of His redemptive work. Various attempts have been made in circles that claimed to be Reformed to modify this position. The Dutch Arminians maintained that Christ died for the purpose of making salvation possible for all men without exception, though they will not all be saved. Salvation is offered to them on lower terms than it was to Adam, namely on condition of faith and evangelical obedience, a condition which they can meet in virtue of God's gift of common or sufficient grace to all men. The Calvinistic Universalists sought to mediate between the Reformed position and that of the Arminians. They distinguished a twofold decree of God:

(a) A decree to send Christ into the world to save all men by His atoning death on condition of faith in Him. However, because God saw that this purpose would fail, since no one would accept Christ by faith, He followed up the first by a second decree.

(b) A decree to give a certain elect number special grace, in order to engender faith in their hearts and to secure their salvation.

This dubious and very unsatisfactory view was held by the school of Saumur (Cameron, Amyraldus, and Testardus), and also by such English scholars as Wardlaw, John Brown, and James Richards. Some New England theologians, such as Emmons, Taylor, Park, and Beman held a somewhat similar view. The Marrow-men of Scotland were perfectly orthodox in maintaining that Christ died for the purpose of saving only the elect, though some of them used expressions which also pointed to a more general reference of the atonement. They said that Christ did not die for all men, but that He is dead, that is, available, for all. God's giving love, which is universal, led Him to make a deed of gift and grant to all men; and this is the foundation for the universal offer of salvation. His electing love, however, which is special, results in the salvation of the elect only.

Adapted from Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology

R.C. Sproul on Definite Atonement

Recommend Reading:

From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective

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What Christ's Death Does For Believers

First, the death of Christ frees us from the consequences of sin— both condemnation and damnation.

Second, the death of Christ washes us from the defilement of sin. The blood of Christ cleanses and takes away our guilt— giving us a clear conscience before God. Our sins are gone, gone, gone— forever.

Third, Christ’s death frees us from sin’s power. We are loosed from the power and dominion of sin. Sin cannot drive us on to action now, for the blood of the Lamb has broken its controlling dominion. Those whom Christ sets free are free indeed. Praise be to God! To God alone belongs the glory— our victory is found in Him alone!

Adapted from Victory in Jesus: A Devotional Commentary on the Book of Revelation by Donald Johnson

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No Other Sacrifices Needed

The first seven chapters of Leviticus seem to be the most neglected passages of the Bible. Every year when someone begins to Bible reading plan and gets to Leviticus, they skip over it because we do not do sacrifices anymore. While it is true that we don't sacrifice animals and our pastors are not covered in blood, it is important to read those chapters because that is what God required under the old covenant.

Another reason we should read those chapters, is to help us, as my Old Testament professor in college once said, understand the sacrifice of Jesus. The death of Christ on the cross fulfilled the sacrificial law. We don't have to take blood from bulls and goats. We also don't have to repeatedly do them. 1 Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit."

A study note from the Reformation Study Bible says, "Christ’s substitutionary death is sufficient, and no further sacrifices are necessary." Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. We don't need any other sacrifice. Christ's death on the cross was enough.

The Curse Motif of the Atonement

Many since the passing of R.C. Sproul has regarded this sermon as one of their favorites. I listened to it for the first time a couple of days ago and I fully agree this is one of the best sermons Sproul ever preached.

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Jesus Paid The Penalty In Our Place to Restore Us

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit (1 Peter 3:18).


Here is one of the richest, clearest, and briefest New Testament summaries of the work of Christ. Theologians describe the heart of the gospel as penal substitutionary atonement. Jesus paid the penalty for sins (penal) as a substitute in our place (substitutionary) to undo the effects of our sin and restore us to God (atonement, literally “at-one-ment”). This is precisely what we find in this verse: Christ “suffered once for sins [penal], the righteous for the unrighteous [substitutionary], that he might bring us to God [atonement].”

As beautiful as are these gospel truths, the work of Christ accomplished even more. For example, the Devil and his demons are once and for all disarmed. The caring and righteous work of Christ is also an example for us to follow, as Peter himself asserts (1 Peter 2:21). But penal substitution is the fundamental heart of the gospel. The other benefits of Christ’s work all flow from this.

Because of the work of Christ proclaimed in the gospel of grace, we are restored to God. The wreckage we have introduced into our lives through sin and failure and error is canceled. All is forgiven, and one day we will be with Christ in the new earth, in perfect joy.

Adapted from the Gospel Transformation Bible

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