Again, most people say that Jesus died for the sins of all persons and explain that all are not saved only because all will not believe on him. But the proper biblical answer is that Jesus died for the sins of his elect people only, the Father sending him to make specific atonement for the sins of those whom he had already elected to salvation. That is what Ephesians chapter 1 is saying. For the "we" who have been redeemed (v.7) are the "us" who have been described earlier as being chosen and "predestined" to be saved (vv. 4-5).
Does it sound reasonable to say that Jesus died for all persons but that many are not saved only because they refuse to believe on Jesus? It may, at least until you think about the nature of that unbelief. Is their unbelief a morally neutral choice, just believing or not believing? Or is it a sin? The obvious answer is that unbelief is a sin, in fact, the most damning of all sins. But this means that if we really believe that Jesus died for all sins, then he must have died for this sin, too, and the result of this line of reasoning is that even the sin of unbelief will not keep a person out of heaven. This ends in universalism.
The greatest of all Puritan theologians was a scholar named John Owen. Few people read him today because his mind was so keen that most of today's sloppy thinkers cannot easily follow him. Owen was very sharp in this area. In a book titled The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, Owen argued that there are only three possible options where Christ's death is concerned. Either: (1) Christ died for all the sins of all men, so that all are saved, or (2) Christ died for all of the sins of some men, so that these but not all are saved, or (3) Christ died for some of the sins of all men. If it is the latter, then all are lost. They must perish for the sins for which Jesus did not die. The first is universalism, which Scripture rejects. The second is the correct and only biblical position.
Does it sound reasonable to say that Jesus died for all persons but that many are not saved only because they refuse to believe on Jesus? It may, at least until you think about the nature of that unbelief. Is their unbelief a morally neutral choice, just believing or not believing? Or is it a sin? The obvious answer is that unbelief is a sin, in fact, the most damning of all sins. But this means that if we really believe that Jesus died for all sins, then he must have died for this sin, too, and the result of this line of reasoning is that even the sin of unbelief will not keep a person out of heaven. This ends in universalism.
The greatest of all Puritan theologians was a scholar named John Owen. Few people read him today because his mind was so keen that most of today's sloppy thinkers cannot easily follow him. Owen was very sharp in this area. In a book titled The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, Owen argued that there are only three possible options where Christ's death is concerned. Either: (1) Christ died for all the sins of all men, so that all are saved, or (2) Christ died for all of the sins of some men, so that these but not all are saved, or (3) Christ died for some of the sins of all men. If it is the latter, then all are lost. They must perish for the sins for which Jesus did not die. The first is universalism, which Scripture rejects. The second is the correct and only biblical position.
– James Montgomery Boice
Sovereign Grace p.58-59
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