For whom was Christ\u2019s work on the cross intended?<\/p>\n \u201cHis People\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Matthew 1:21<\/strong> And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save\u00a0his people<\/u><\/b>\u00a0from their sins.<\/p>\n Luke 1:68<\/strong> Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed\u00a0his people<\/u><\/b>,<\/p>\n Luke 1:77<\/strong> To give knowledge of salvation unto\u00a0his people<\/u><\/b>\u00a0by the remission of their sins,<\/p>\n \u201cThe Church\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Acts 20:28<\/strong> Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed\u00a0the church of God<\/u><\/b>, which he hath purchased with his own blood.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Sheep\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n John 10:11<\/strong> I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.<\/p>\n John 10:15<\/strong> As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.<\/p>\n Hebrew 13:20<\/strong> Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of\u00a0the sheep<\/u><\/b>, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,<\/p>\n \u201cUs\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Romans 5:8<\/strong> But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for\u00a0us<\/u><\/b>.<\/p>\n Romans 8:32<\/strong> He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for\u00a0us<\/u><\/b>\u00a0all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?<\/p>\n 2 Corinthians 5:21<\/strong> For he hath made him to be sin for\u00a0us<\/u><\/b>, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.<\/p>\n Ephesians 5:2<\/strong> And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for\u00a0us<\/u><\/b>\u00a0an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.<\/p>\n 1 Thessalonians 5:10<\/strong> Who died for\u00a0us<\/u><\/b>, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.<\/p>\n Hebrews 9:12<\/strong> Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. (the \u201cfor us\u201d is implied, which is why the KJV translators included it here)<\/p>\n 1 Peter 4:1<\/strong> Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for\u00a0us<\/u><\/b>\u00a0in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;<\/p>\n 1 John 3:16<\/strong> Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for\u00a0us<\/u><\/b>: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cPlease Hit \u2018Subscribe\u2019\u201d!<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0If you have received benefit from this or any of my other 5,000+ articles, please follow my blog by signing up (with your email address) on the sidebar to the right (you may have to scroll down a bit), above where there is an icon bar, \u201cSign Me Up!\u201d: to receive notice when I post a new blog article. This is the equivalent of subscribing to a\u00a0YouTube<\/em>\u00a0channel.\u00a0My blog was rated #1<\/a>\u00a0for Christian sites by leading AI tool, ChatGPT: endorsed by influential Protestant blogger Adrian Warnock. Actually, I partner with Kenny Burchard on the\u00a0YouTube<\/em>\u00a0channel,\u00a0Catholic Bible Highlights<\/em><\/a>. Please subscribe there, too! Please also consider following me on Twitter \/ X and purchasing\u00a0one or more of my 55 books<\/a>.\u00a0All of this helps me get more exposure, and (however little!) more income for my full-time apologetics work. Thanks so much and happy reading!<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The problem here, which is a distressingly common<\/em> one in Protestant apologetics, is highly selective citation<\/em>. One particular strain of biblical thought (that the writer wrongly assumes to be \u201cproof\u201d of distinctive Protestant doctrines) is utilized, while passages on the same topic that are less amenable to Protestant doctrines (which I will produce below) are summarily ignored. This is a classic, \u201cplaybook\u201d case of that. Turretinfan provides fifteen passages. I provide 33 that refute his erroneous interpretation of his fifteen passages.<\/p>\n Catholics can harmonize this strain of thought with the \u201cuniversal atonement\u201d prooftexts, whereas advocates of limited atonement cannot harmonize their passages with the ones we also submit. It\u2019s a fairly elementary matter of logic. The following two propositions are not contradictory:<\/p>\n This couplet is not contradictory because the class of Christians is part of \u2014 a subgroup of \u2014 the class of all persons. For the passages along the lines of #1 to have actual force of argument in favor of limited atonement, it\u2019s necessary for them to include words such as \u201cChrist died only<\/em><\/strong>\u201d for \u201chis people\u201d or \u201cthe Church\u201d or \u201cthe sheep\u201d or \u201cus\u201d (meaning, Christian believers). But you\u2019ll notice that the passages above never do that<\/em>. Therefore, they can\u2019t be thought of as contradictory to universal atonement (i.e., the view that Jesus died for all<\/em> men, and that any person can potentially be saved by His sacrificial, redeeming death on the cross; not all are, because the damned freely choose to reject Jesus).<\/p>\n The Catholic, or believer in universal atonement (which includes the great majority of Protestants), on the other hand, can harmonize passages such as the following with the above passages, because there is no contradiction, per the above explanation. The Calvinist can\u2019t do the converse, because he rules out universal atonement from the outset (which is why, I contend, that Turretinfan ignored all the verses that I will highlight). If Jesus died for all people, and opened up the possibility<\/em> of salvation of any man (at least from our limited human perspective: not knowing with absolute certainty who is among the elect), this is contradictory to the belief that He died only for the elect.<\/p>\n Conclusion: Catholics and other Christians who deny limited atonement, can and must do so because this is the only way to harmonize all of the relevant scriptural data. We are taking into account all of the Bible, whereas the Calvinist looks at one portion of the evidence and ignores the other. We are respecting the Bible as God\u2019s inspired, inerrant, infallible revelation much more than the Calvinist is, because we don\u2019t ignore what happens to not fit into a preconceived theology \u2014 or \u201ctradition of men\u201d if you will \u2014 that we bring to<\/em> the Bible. Now onto what the Bible teaches about universal atonement:<\/p>\n Luke 3:6<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0all\u00a0flesh shall see the salvation\u00a0of God.<\/p>\n Luke 19:10\u00a0<\/strong>For the Son of man came to\u00a0seek and to save the lost.<\/p>\n John 1:29\u00a0<\/strong>The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God, who\u00a0takes away the sin of the world!\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n John 3:14-17\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAnd as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, [15] that\u00a0whoever believes in him may have eternal life.\u201d [16] For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but\u00a0that the world might be saved through him.<\/p>\n John 4:42<\/strong>\u00a0\u201c. . . this is indeed\u00a0the Savior of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n John 6:33<\/strong>\u00a0For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and\u00a0gives life to the world. (cf. 8:12; 9:5)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n John 6:51<\/strong>\u00a0I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and\u00a0the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.<\/p>\n John 8:12<\/strong> Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, \u201cI am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.\u201d<\/p>\n John 11:51-52<\/strong>\u00a0He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, [52]\u00a0and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n John 12:32<\/strong>\u00a0and I, when I am lifted up from the earth,\u00a0will draw all men to myself.<\/p>\n John 12:46-47<\/strong> I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. [47] . . . I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.<\/p>\n John 17:21<\/strong>\u00a0that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us,\u00a0so that the world may believe\u00a0that thou hast sent me. (cf. 17:23)<\/p>\n Acts 2:21<\/strong>\u00a0And it shall be that\u00a0whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (cf. Rom 10:13)<\/p>\n Acts 10:34-35<\/strong> And Peter opened his mouth and said: \u201cTruly I perceive that God shows no partiality,\u00a0[35] but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.<\/p>\n Romans 5:6<\/strong>\u00a0 . . . Christ died for the ungodly. . . .<\/p>\n Romans 5:18<\/strong> Then as one man\u2019s trespass led to condemnation for all\u00a0men, so one man\u2019s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life\u00a0for all\u00a0men.<\/p>\n Romans 6:10<\/strong> The death he died he died to sin, once for all . . .<\/p>\n Romans 2:11<\/strong>\u00a0For\u00a0God shows no partiality.<\/p>\n 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 19<\/strong> For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. [15] And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. . . . [19] that is, in Christ God was\u00a0reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.<\/p>\n Galatians 2:6<\/strong> . . . God shows no partiality . . . (cf. Col 3:25)<\/p>\n Ephesians 3:9<\/b> and to\u00a0make\u00a0all men see\u00a0what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things;<\/p>\n Ephesians 6:9<\/strong>\u00a0. . . there is\u00a0no partiality with him.<\/p>\n 1 Timothy 2:3-6<\/strong>\u00a0. . . God our Savior, [4]\u00a0who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who\u00a0gave himself as a ransom for all, . . .<\/p>\n 1 Timothy 4:10<\/strong>\u00a0For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the\u00a0Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.<\/p>\n Titus 2:11<\/strong>\u00a0For the grace of God has appeared\u00a0for the salvation of all men\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Hebrews 2:9<\/strong>\u00a0But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God\u00a0he might taste death for every one.<\/p>\n Hebrews 7:27<\/strong> He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself.<\/p>\n 1 Peter 3:18<\/strong> For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,<\/p>\n 2 Peter 2:1, 15<\/strong>\u00a0But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even\u00a0denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.. . . [15] Forsaking the right way they have gone astray . . .<\/p>\n 2 Peter 3:9<\/strong>\u00a0The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you,\u00a0not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.<\/p>\n 1 John 2:2\u00a0<\/strong>and he is the expiation for our sins, and\u00a0not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 1 John 4:14<\/strong>\u00a0And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as\u00a0the Savior of the world.<\/p>\n Revelation 3:20<\/strong> \u201cBehold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2024\/11\/JesusCrucifixion2-scaled.jpg\")
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\nPractical Matters<\/strong><\/em>:\u00a0 I run the most comprehensive \u201cone-stop\u201d Catholic apologetics site:\u00a0rated #1\u00a0for Christian sites<\/a>\u00a0by leading AI tool, ChatGPT \u2014 endorsed by popular Protestant blogger Adrian Warnock. Perhaps some of my 5,000+ free online articles or\u00a0fifty-six books<\/a>\u00a0have helped you (by God\u2019s grace) to decide to\u00a0become Catholic<\/a>\u00a0or to\u00a0return to the Church<\/a>, or better understand some doctrines and\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0we believe them<\/a>.<\/div>\n