This does go hand in hand with the free will/predestination argument however I will try to keep this contained within the scope of the atonement only. It was hard to do so because there's so many thoughts that branch out from this, but I think I've done a fairly decent job of keeping it on the atonement.
This is by no means exhaustive.
To begin, let's just look at some statements made by Biblical authors and some interesting things that weren't said.
Matthew 26:28, "This is the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
You'll note Christ doesn't state that the blood was poured out for "all", why the clear limitation of "many"?
Matthew 20:28, "The Son of Man came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Romans 5:15, "God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflowed to many!"
Romans 5:19, "Through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous."
Hebrews 9:28, "So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many."
We see the same concept all over the Bible.
John 10:11,15, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Just as the Father knows me and know the Father - and I lay my life down for the sheep."
To understand John's passage, read Matthew's:
Matthew 25:32, "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."
So, Christ will separate the sheep from the goats. There are different groups of people- that's all you need to gather from this at the moment.
Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her."
Christ loved and died for the Church, no mention of "all peoples".
John 17:9, "I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours."
Christ himself says he prays not for the world, but only those who are his!
We have now seen that there are the sheep, and the goats. Two groups.
The sheep are the church.
The goats are... what's left.
Matthew 7:13, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
The goats will see destruction. The goats are the majority. The sheep will see life. The sheep are few.
That's just a brief look at the atonement, the limited nature of it.
Romans 8:32, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?"
This means that Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. The ultimate gift. There is nothing, once this gift has been given, that can top it.
Now, think about what this means for atonement. If Christ gave his life up for every person on earth: why wouldn't he freely give us all other things? But we see this is not the case.
So we see that Christ didn't give his life up for every person- only the sheep.
Perhaps "all things" needs to be clarified. Let's look to context.
Romans 8:29, "For whom he did foreknow, He did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son. That He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestine, he also called. Whom he called, He justified. Whom He justified, He glorified."
So we see that if Christ dies, he will give us all things: this includes salvation. The entire world is not saved, thus that gift was not given to the entire world. The conclusion is that Christ only died for the sheep!
How undeserving we are!
This is by no means exhaustive.
To begin, let's just look at some statements made by Biblical authors and some interesting things that weren't said.
Matthew 26:28, "This is the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
You'll note Christ doesn't state that the blood was poured out for "all", why the clear limitation of "many"?
Matthew 20:28, "The Son of Man came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Romans 5:15, "God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflowed to many!"
Romans 5:19, "Through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous."
Hebrews 9:28, "So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many."
We see the same concept all over the Bible.
John 10:11,15, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Just as the Father knows me and know the Father - and I lay my life down for the sheep."
To understand John's passage, read Matthew's:
Matthew 25:32, "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."
So, Christ will separate the sheep from the goats. There are different groups of people- that's all you need to gather from this at the moment.
Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her."
Christ loved and died for the Church, no mention of "all peoples".
John 17:9, "I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours."
Christ himself says he prays not for the world, but only those who are his!
We have now seen that there are the sheep, and the goats. Two groups.
The sheep are the church.
The goats are... what's left.
Matthew 7:13, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
The goats will see destruction. The goats are the majority. The sheep will see life. The sheep are few.
That's just a brief look at the atonement, the limited nature of it.
Romans 8:32, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?"
This means that Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. The ultimate gift. There is nothing, once this gift has been given, that can top it.
Now, think about what this means for atonement. If Christ gave his life up for every person on earth: why wouldn't he freely give us all other things? But we see this is not the case.
So we see that Christ didn't give his life up for every person- only the sheep.
Perhaps "all things" needs to be clarified. Let's look to context.
Romans 8:29, "For whom he did foreknow, He did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son. That He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestine, he also called. Whom he called, He justified. Whom He justified, He glorified."
So we see that if Christ dies, he will give us all things: this includes salvation. The entire world is not saved, thus that gift was not given to the entire world. The conclusion is that Christ only died for the sheep!
How undeserving we are!
