I suppose both calvinists and arminians should have no trouble believing in the doctrine of limited atonement and should instead limit their debating to only the scope of God’s offer of salvation at the cross instead. It is clear that some will die in their sins and perish because of their unbelief (John 8:24) and these sins clearly are not atoned for – therein it is limited atonement. An atoned sin is expunged and can no longer be what one finally dies in.

The issue lies in how we picture God’s work of atonement completed at the cross. It is one thing to say that Christ atoned for only the sins of the elect on the cross. It is another thing to draw an inference from this that Christ died on the cross only for the elect and therein salvation is offered only to the elect and to none else.

Calvinist Sequential Logic

1. Christ purposes to offer Himself as a sacrifice only for the elect.
2. Christ atones for the sins of only the elect on the cross.
3. Christ offers salvation only to the elect.
4. At the end of time, only the elect believe in Christ
5. Only the elect are saved on Judgement Day.

Now, there is a clear correlation between faith in Christ and forgiveness of sins. And even the calvinist must concede that God does look ahead in all of human time to atone for all the sins of all mankind, including those sins committed in the future from when He died on the cross. If God does factor in future sins of man when atoning on the cross, what’s stopping Him from factoring in human unbelief in Him throughout human time?

Consequently, couldn’t God have based His atonement for sins on the common parameter of who endures in faith till the end (Matt 24:13) – and it is then observed by us in time as per the Demonstration that only the elect are preserved in faith by God’s predestined working in them – and (though known by God while not caused) none of the non-elect self-determine to have their sins atoned through faith.

Reconciled Sequential Logic

1. Christ purposes to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the whole world, elect and non-elect.
2. Christ offers salvation to the whole world, elect and non-elect.
3. Looking forward to the end of time, factoring in the non-elect’s self-determinism to this unrestricted offer, only the elect believe in Christ.
4. Christ consequently atones for the sins of only the elect on the cross.
5. Only the elect are saved on Judgement Day.

This way, the offer of salvation to all, elect and non-elect, is reconciled with the doctrine of limited atonement. And still, the calvinist may ask, what happens to the sins that are committed by the non-elect at the time of their regeneration and being led to faith though they may fall away from it later. God promises to forgive all confessed sins and at least at the point of their regeneration, the non-elect would be led to conviction and confession of sins. Isn’t Jesus’ blood wasted on atoning for these sins if the non-elect are anyway going to die in their sins?

God’s Purposes in Limited Atonement

Why is it wasted if it has served its purpose in time – everyone glorified God for His provision of grace in His precious Son’s sacrifice that covered those sins. It doesn’t have to be just these sins that the non-elect die in – they commit much more in unbelief, while filling up their measure of iniquity. Also, when reading John 20:23 with Acts 7:60, I see God willing to forgive particular sins of the wicked, primarily for the sake of the elect to whom He reveals more of His glory in His mercy, compassion and His fatherly nearness in answering and giving to those who ask in His name in the spirit.

Even so, there never is a scenario where the non-elect fall away from the faith but still cling on to Christ for remission of past sins. When a person stops believing in Christ, he rejects Christ whole and essentially renounces Christ’s sole sufficiency to cover and remove all his sins, past, present and future. Christ takes no effect and profits nothing to a person who falls away (Gal 5:2-4) – again perfectly reconciled with limited atonement.

Passover and the Day of Atonement

Christ finished it all on the cross outside of time. But to our understanding, the foreshadowed feasts distinguish between the passover and the day of atonement (reference). Both involve shedding of blood, but while the former is a covering of sins from the angel of death the latter is a final resolution of one’s guilty state. On our human timeline, Christ’s death on the cross as the passover lamb provides hope for salvation to all who believe in Him and who apply His blood on the doorposts of their hearts, both elect and non-elect.

But it is Judgement Day, the spiritual Day of Atonement, that effectively applies Christ’s atonement for all sins predicated on all those who continue to believe in Him to the end. For many fall in the wilderness, having been saved from Egypt, because of unbelief (Heb 3:7 – 4:2). Christ atones for sins on the cross, factoring-in this end of time, while still providing the hope of salvation to all in Him along our human timeline.

How then should the non-elect interpret God’s promises when he is led to believe for a time? And since there may be times when we do not know with certainty if we are the elect or non-elect, how should the elect too interpret biblical assurance of salvation?