1 John 2:2 is a verse used by many to oppose particular redemption (limited atonement). They assert that this verse is proof text that Christ died for “the whole world”, meaning every individual.
It is critical to understand the nature and efficacy of the atonement so that one truly understands the grace of God in salvation. Not understanding, or denying, the many intricacies of God’s work in salvation may lead to a very man-centered understanding and preaching of the Gospel.
I made the following comment in response to a professing Arminian who follows the blog. The comment can be found in its entirety in Christ’s Death Guarantees the Justification and Glorification of the Elect. Though brief, I hope it is helpful to you in rightly understanding 1 John 2:2.
1 John 2:2 reads,
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Firstly, propitiation means to satisfy the wrath of God – that is what Jesus did on the cross when He satisfied God’s wrath against the ungodly. It does not make sense if God satisfied His wrath through Jesus and will also satisfy His wrath through those same sinners in hell. That would be double jeopardy and would make God unjust.
So Christ satisfied “our sins”, John writes – so who are the “our”? Well, John is a Jew. Looking back to John 10, we see Christ speak about laying His life down for His sheep, meaning the remnant of Israel, and He also has sheep who are not of His fold, meaning Gentiles:
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Returning to 1 John 2:2, it is now easy to understand that John, a Jew, is explaining that Jesus did not only die for the remnant of Israel (Christ’s sheep), but also for the whole world (meaning sheep “not of this fold” – elect Gentiles from every tribe, nation, and tongue).
airō 
gracealone1
November 28, 2012
Justin, this is such a precious truth of the Word of God it is not surprising that it is attacked on many fronts. Perhaps those who oppose particular redemption do not fully understand that such an unbiblical belief is a direct assault on the very character of the Trinity and an attempt to “de-throne” Him from being totally soveriegn in all things concerning His creation. As with all things pretaining to Christ and His salvation this is something that must be revealed and made alive to the believer by the Holy Spirit.
Lord, glorify your Name and expose the evil.
Darrel
Justin Edwards
November 28, 2012
Amen, Darrel. The cross is the pinnacle of the Gospel, and our faith hinges on our being freely justified by His grace. Some say salvation is so simple, yet while that may be true in so much that it takes the faith of a child to believe, the means by which God saves us is entirely comprehensive. Just think about all of the aspects of salvation: election, calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification, preservation, glorification! And all of these are graces from our amazing God and Savior. Truly, it is the Spirit alone that can bring us understanding, and that too is a marvelous and humbling grace.
Jimmy Wilson
November 28, 2012
I truly enjoyed reading this. Thank you soooo much
Justin Edwards
November 29, 2012
You’re very welcome, Jimmy!
julie
November 28, 2012
unless you are an universalist and you believe that every single person goes to heaven no matter what, then you have limited the atonement. The arminian limits it by the will of man; the one who is reformed in his theologybelieves it is limited by the will of God. Either way – it’s limited!
One principle of bible interpretation is that you go back and see how a word is used by the author in other passages. For instance, how does the Apostle John use the word ‘world’ in the rest of his books (gospel of John, 1,2 and 3 John?) We have to be careful that we read the scriptures trying to understand what the author intended to say, not what we think (or want) him to say. Also look up the Greek word for world, this may shed some light.
Justin Edwards
November 29, 2012
Amen, Julie, and great points!
julie
November 29, 2012
One thing that I got from John Owen’s The death of death in the death of Christ is this:
Christ either died for:
1) all the sins of all men or
2) some sins of some men or
3) some sins of all men or
4) all the sins for some men.
The first instance is universalism, which we know is not biblical. The second instance would mean that Christ did not die for all of a person’s sins, and obviously if He didn’t, then they could not be forgiven. The third one, same thing. This leaves us with the last option, which is the biblical one. Then, how is it that these “some men” are chosen?
I think it is is interesting that many of us who have come to a reformed understanding of salvation were first arminian in our beliefs. In a sense this protects us from stumbling and thinking well what if I am not one of the elect, can I still be saved? So it is interesting that later as we study more in depth and understand more of Who God is and especially His sovereignty, we come to understand the doctrines of grace. And I think this leads us to what is the underlying problem today in people’s understanding. They start with man: man’s wants, man’s needs, man’s rights, what man “deserves”, etc. etc. When you start with man, then you decide that it isn’t fair if everybody can’t be saved because we “deserve” it. Even solid churches can do this. We are so steeped by our culture in humanistic thinking that we can hardly get beyond it. During our last US election people were willing to boldly proclaim that they even have a right to government subsidized birth control. Even the international community has a list of what are human rights. Man’s ideas about what he deserves is seemingly limitless. (BTW What does the Bible say that sinful man deserves?)
But where does the Bible start – with God! This is essentially what you must do to understand reformed theology. You start with God, His sovereignty, His Kingship, His rights as Creator, as Judge of all mankind, His just and holy nature and so on. There are so many key scriptures to understand this. Here are just two: Isaiah 14:24, 27 and Daniel 4:35. Then when you have begun to understand the holy and just character of our Creator God and only then, you go to sinful man. We need God elevated in our minds, not man!
Renata
January 30, 2013
Thanks Julie for your concise thoughts…I too, was once a Semi Pelagian thinker (although I did not know it at the time) but once I took Sytematic Theology and was presented with Scripture with regards to the Sovreignty of God and Election it was the most logical thing I saw in the word and the light bulb went on….I thought “where has this been all my life, why is this not being taught in the mainstream churches?” I have dealt with Christians outside of Reformed theology and they are the most hateful in speech with regards to their having a hand in their salvation…I view it as rebellion and the height of arrogance and back to the least common denominator or man centered and humanistic thinking…. Sola de Glorei!