Strict Calvinists often argue that, if Christ died for all persons without exception (universal atonement), all would invariably be saved (universal salvation). Since the Scriptures portray two disparate destinies of humans, it is reasoned, universal atonement cannot be true.
Salvational conditionality
Our response is simple: if the New Testament authors view salvation as genuinely conditional in nature, universal atonement does not inevitably lead to the actualisation of universal salvation. The possibility remains that some (if not many) will perish because God has not chosen who will come to a salvational knowledge in Jesus Christ. In other words, there is no election to (or unto) belief. All are to be urgently called to repent and believe in Christ for salvation because Christ has died for all. All have sinned and all likewise need a saviour, but only those who respond positively to the gospel will be saved. The gracious character of redemption is in no way compromised by affirming its conditional nature.
Christ’s redemptive work: appropriation and application
In Christ God has acted on behalf of the salvation of all humanity. Christ has taken the judgement of God due to sinners upon himself as the representative and substitute for sinful humankind. He bore the curse for us on the tree. By his blood there is redemption and forgiveness of sins, and by his blood believers are declared righteous. Through the death of the Son those who were once the enemies of God are reconciled to the Father. Those who are in Christ are made new creations by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the powerful working of God. Christ has died and risen again; he will never die again. Jesus is now Lord over all. Those who trust in him will not perish but inherit eternal life. They will share in the resurrection life of Jesus by being raised immortal by him on the last day. The kingdom of heaven will be theirs.
All may potentially be saved, for Jesus has procured redemption for the whole world via his sacrificial death at Golgotha. Nevertheless, according to the sovereign decree of God, the benefits of Jesus’ sacrificial death are actually applied only to those who cling to the Son as their only hope for obtaining salvation and the mercy of God.
Conclusion
God has sent Christ to save his wayward creation from the wrath that is to come. Jesus came to deliver those who believe on him from the power and penalty of sin. The message of this good news is to be proclaimed to the ends of the earth until the King returns in glory with his angels at the end of the age to judge the living and the dead. Until the day of his visitation (i.e. the parousia), all are called to repentance towards God and faith towards Jesus Christ. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Cor. 5.14–15, ESV)The only question that remains is this: who will respond to the call?
Copyright © J. D. Gallé, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021. All rights reserved.
Latest revisions: minor emendations made to paragraphs four and five (2 Jul. 2016); omitted two words in par. 2 (15 Apr. 2017); converted one colon to a full stop; altered headings ‘The conditionality of salvation’ to ‘Salvational conditionality’, and ‘The benefits of Christ’ to ‘Christ’s redemptive work: appropriation and application’ (21 Feb. 2018); altered one letter from upper case to lower case (14 Nov. 2019); added emphases in par. 1 moved heading for one paragraph to another; added one word in par. 1; altered one word in par. 2 (10 Dec. 2021).
