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Limited Atonement

The third point – limited atonement or particular redemption – brings us to the pivot of the Gospel, that is, the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross. 

Augustine expressed this doctrine in the formula: “Sufficient for all, efficient for the elect.” This means that Christ’s atonement is universal in three respects – that it is sufficient, applicable and offered to all: “And He (Christ) is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (I Jn. 2: 2).

“There is nothing lacking in Christ’s redemptive work on earth that would make it inapplicable to any member of the human race in any earthly circumstances.  The atonement is absolutely infinite in its value and thus in its potentiality.  No sinner will be lost for lack of a sufficient atonement ... Within the decrees of God, the atonement was intended to accomplish precisely what it does accomplish.  It accomplishes the salvation of the elect of God; it furnishes the ethical and logical ground for common grace (Rom. 3: 25); and it renders the lost ethically and logically inexcusable (Rom. 1: 20).” – Theology for every Christian.”