The purpose of Jesus coming was atonement and Redemption and the Father was involved in it: “For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6: 38). Here the great love of Father and Son is seen for all humanity! Jesus had a great conviction that His life and death constituted fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, specially seen in Isaiah 53 and when He cites it at the Last Supper in Luke 22:37. He also saw His death constituting a ransom ; He was to be the Redeemer. In Matthew 20:28 Jesus indicated that His giving of His life was to be the means by which many would be freed from bondage. He also saw Himself as our substitute. This is seen clearly in John 15:13 where He said: “Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life, for His friends.”
According to New Dictionary of Theology, the word “atonement” is rare in the New Testament; it occurs once in Romans 5:11 and not at all in many Bible translations . But the idea is there throughout the New Testament.1 There is the question of “for whom did Christ die?” Some believe that He died for all humankind that would accept Him as Savior and it is their choice to do so. Others believe that atonement is only for those God elected. This is where the concepts of predestination and free-will enter in. Those that believe that atonement is only for those God elected(predestined) make use of Matthew 20:28 which says: “ Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Another Scripture used by them is John 17:9 which says: “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given Me, for they are Yours.” I hold to the first view that Jesus came to atone all humanity! The last two Scriptures really do not make a strong point to say that there is some elect people who will be saved! The first Scripture says ‘many’ but this could refer to all! In the second Scripture it says ‘I am not praying for the world’; this could mean that He is not praying for those who have bluntly turned their backs on Him even though they had the choice to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to Him who died for them; He gave the opportunity to the whole world! I believe that Scriptures such as John 3:16 support my view. It says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Here it shows that ‘God loved the world’ and that ‘whoever’ , in other words, everyone has an opportunity if they believe in Him!
Another Scripture which holds this view is Romans 5:18 which says : “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” Here it clearly says ‘all men’ can have conversion and life! Of course, there are variations amongst those who hold to a universal extent: some of them say that everyone is saved; the others say that not everyone gets saved. For example , according to online source2 the following point of Calvinism vs. Arminianism is in regards to Calvin’s Limited Atonement vs. Arminian’s Unlimited Atonement. Calvin says Christ died only for the elect. If He died for those who were not elect, His blood was either wasted or it would have overridden the will of the non-elect and they too would have been saved. Armenius believes Christ died for the world(John 3: 16). If a person does not believe like this, it means that inclusive words such as ‘world’ or ‘all’ only refer to all the elect!
NOTES
1Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F. Wright and J.J. Packer, eds., New Dictionary of Theology, (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988),55
2Mike Stein, “Arminianism vs. Calvinism” http://www.spreadinglight.com/theology/armvscal.html (February 10, 2011),1-2.
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