From the verses that follow, we can come to two non-controversial conclusion for those who believed in the Bible:
- The call is universal;
- Not all will be saved.
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1 ESV)
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Let the one who hears say, "Come!" And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely. (Revelation 22:17 BSB)
The motivation is God's desire that all may be saved.
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ezekiel 18:23 ESV)
For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live. (Ezekiel 18:32 ESV)
Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11 ESV)
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV)
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)
For this purpose, Christ came as the Savior of the World.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. (Titus 2:11 BSB)
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29 KJV)
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 ESV)
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15 NIV)
For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:10 ESV)
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 John 4:14 ESV)
But he who wants to be saved must first believe.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 ESV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)
Therefore not all will be saved.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18 ESV)
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (Matthew 7:13 ESV)
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21 ESV)
For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:14 KJV)
It is obvious that many are not even given the opportunity to hear the Good News.
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you." (Matthew 11:21-24 ESV)
Salvation is by the grace of God.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8 KJV)
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory - even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? (Romans 9:14-24 ESV)
Now we come back to the technical question. What is the scope of Christ's atonement?
All sinners for all sins
If Christ died for all sinners for all sins, then all will be saved. God cannot punish any sinner, since Christ died for all. You may argue that while the atonement is for all, it is only effective when one believes. But since Christ died for all sins, including the sin of unbelief, the atonement is effective even if one does not believe. If you have been fined $100 for a traffic offence and I paid the $100 for you, you will go free, even if you do not believe that I have paid the fine, unless you can make the judge pay back the $100 to me, which means that you believe I have paid the fine for you. Can anyone make Christ not die for him if atonement is for all sinners and all sin? You may reject Christ at the great white throne judgement, but if He had died for you, can God still punish you again for the sins which Christ had already atoned for you? And what about those who have never heard of the Gospel? At the judgement, they can say, "Oh, you mean that pardon is available for me? I will take it now." Then Jesus was telling us lies in Matthew 11:21-24. And what about Ephesians 2:8? Now salvation is through sight and not through faith.
Some sinners for all sins
This is the Calvinist position of limited atonement, that Jesus died only for His sheep.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11 ESV)
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (John 6:37 ESV)
And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:9-10 ESV)
Some sinners for some sins
I cannot find any scriptural support for this. Can you?
All sinners for some sins
Christ died for all sinner, but not all sins, example, the sin of unbelief. If you refuse to believe that Christ died for you, then you are not saved. then what about those who never have a chance to hear the Gospel? Anyway, where is the scriptural support for this?
Why go through all this exercise? Does it affect a person's salvation? No. But there are always people who like to ask questions and there are also those who want to confuse and there are those who are confused.
The quote below is taken from the website "For Whom Did Christ Die? | doctrine.org", which argued for unlimited atonement.
QUOTE
He receives it by faith. Faith is not a work. Faith is trust in a person. Consider these examples.
- Person A tells Person B, "I will meet you at church at 10:00 a.m." Person B trusts Person A and is there to meet him at 10. Is Person B's trust a work? No, it is faith in a person's character and integrity.
- Person A tells Person B, "I have a check of $1,000 for you at the bank." Person B does not believe him and does not go to the bank. But the check was there. The check did Person B no good because he refused to trust Person A.
Consider the following: Did Christ die for Saul of Tarsus? We know He did. Was Saul saved while he was seeking to destroy those who were believing in Jesus? We know he wasn't. When was Paul saved? He was saved when he believed in Christ on the road to Damascus–not before. People are lost not because Christ did not die for them. People are lost because they refuse to trust in Christ's work for them.
Like the mechanics of the atonement, the mechanics of belief are unknown. Several theories exist. Theories can be useful, but in this case, they are not. We simply do not have enough information to understand fully all that was involved and how Christ's sacrifice solved the problem of sin and death. Once the gospel is understood, a person must make a decision. Either he will believe God or he won't. Faith is a choice. We cannot understand fully how the divine will and human wills cooperate. But both are involved.
...
The Scriptures reveal a progressive revelation of the atonement. The Old Testament and gospels revealed the Messiah would die for Jews. The prophets and the gospel writers provided no information about Christ dying for Gentiles. After God saved Paul, God revealed a new message of salvation that included the salvation of Gentiles based upon faith alone. This included the revelation that Christ died for all humankind. Thus, the revelation that Christ would die for all Jews was expanded to the teaching that Christ had died for all mankind. The ascended Christ revealed to Paul the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20.24) that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15.1-4). As we have seen above, no Scriptural evidence exists to support a case for limited atonement. We have also seen logic cannot support a case for limited atonement. Therefore, the doctrine of limited or definite atonement must be viewed as a theological curiosity based upon incompetent exegesis of the Scriptures and flawed reasoning by inept theologians. It is Biblically unsound and cannot be considered orthodoxy Christianity.
The Lord Jesus Christ solved the problem of sin and death and satisfied the justice of God. While Christ died for all, His death is of benefit only to the one who believes Paul’s gospel. Divine will and human will cooperate in salvation. Exactly how, we cannot know. That is not our responsibility. Our responsibility is to declare God’s glorious gospel (our Great Commission) that Jesus Christ died for all, that God has reconciled the world to Himself, and that He has given believers a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5.14-21).
UNQUOTE
Added on 01-Sep-2018 for consideration:
But Jesus, aware of this, said, "O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (Matthew 16:8-11 ESV)
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