In this doctrine, as with any doctrine, there are difficulties or what we call difficult passages to interpret and apply. Other difficult doctrines include the doctrine of Trinity, the Deity of Christ, eternal security of the believer, etc. This is why biblical doctrines are not formulated based on a single verse and why scripture is always interpreted in context seeking to discern the intended meaning of the original author to the original recipients. “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” 1 John 2:2. This is probably the most cited objection to the doctrine of limited atonement in the bible. With this in mind, let us consider the author’s intent and the context of the passage in question.
First of all, the Apostle John’s audience was specifically Jewish Christians whom he referred to as “My little children” (1 John 2:1). Secondly, with comforting assurance, the Apostle tells this band of Jewish believers that “if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). At this point, the Apostle states that Christ is the “propitiation for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1). It is clear that the Apostle was not making an argument for universal redemption. For those whom Christ has propitiated their sins, He also operates as their “Advocate with the Father” and we know that Jesus does not intercede for the whole world in a universal sense (John 17:9). Therefore, the “sins of the whole world” is the manner in which the Apostle explains that Christ’s atonement was not only for “us Jews” but also for gentile believers and also for all those who will believe throughout the whole world throughout all time.
John Gill, an 18th century Baptist pastor and theologian offers the following commentary;
“And he is the propitiation for our sins…For the sins of us who now believe, and are Jews: and not for ours only; but for the sins of Old Testament saints, and of those who shall hereafter believe in Christ, and of the Gentiles also, signified in the next clause: but also for [the sins] of the whole world; the Syriac version renders it, "not for us only, but also for the whole world"; that is, not for the Jews only, for John was a Jew, and so were those he wrote unto, but for the Gentiles also. Nothing is more common in Jewish writings than to call the Gentiles, “the world”; and, “the whole world”; and, “the nations of the world”; and the word "world" is so used in Scripture; see (
John 3:16) (
4:42) (
Romans 11:12,15); and stands opposed to a notion the Jews have of the Gentiles, that “there is no propitiation for them”: and it is easy to observe, that when this phrase is not used of the Gentiles, it is to be understood in a limited and restrained sense; as when they say, it happened to a certain high priest, that when he went out of the sanctuary, “the whole world” went after him; which could only design the people in the temple. And elsewhere it is said, “the whole world” has left the Misna, and gone after the "Gemara"; which at most can only intend the Jews; and indeed only a majority of their doctors, who were conversant with these writings: and in another place, “the whole world” fell on their faces, but Raf did not fall on his face; where it means no more than the congregation… and so this phrase, “all the world”, or “the whole world”, in Scripture, unless when it signifies the whole universe, or the habitable earth, is always used in a limited sense, …and so it is in this epistle, (
1 John 5:19) ; where the whole world lying in wickedness is manifestly distinguished from the saints, who are of God, and belong not to the world; and therefore cannot be understood of all the individuals in the world; and the like distinction is in this text itself, for "the sins of the whole world" are opposed to "our sins", the sins of the apostle and others to whom he joins himself; who therefore belonged not to, nor were a part of the whole world, for whose sins Christ is a propitiation as for theirs: so that this passage cannot furnish out any argument for universal redemption; for besides these things, it may be further observed, that for whose sins Christ is a propitiation, their sins are atoned for and pardoned, and their persons justified from all sin, and so shall certainly be glorified, which is not true of the whole world, and every man and woman in it; moreover, Christ is a propitiation through faith in his blood, the benefit of his propitiatory sacrifice is only received and enjoyed through faith; so that in the event it appears that Christ is a propitiation only for believers, a character which does not agree with all mankind; add to this, that for whom Christ is a propitiation he is also an advocate, (
1 John 2:1) ; but he is not an advocate for every individual person in the world; yea, there is a world he will not pray for (
John 17:9) , and consequently is not a propitiation for them. Once more, the design of the apostle in these words is to comfort his "little children" with the advocacy and propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, who might fall into sin through weakness and inadvertency; but what comfort would it yield to a distressed mind, to be told that Christ was a propitiation not only for the sins of the apostles and other saints, but for the sins of every individual in the world, even of these that are in hell?”
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