A Sanctuary for Biblical Logic

  John Calvin rejects the use of the common phrase “Sufficient for all, Efficient for the elect”, especially in interpreting 1 John 2:2. That phrase is commonly understood as Christ dying for everyone without exception including the reprobates in a certain sense, but in another sense the efficacy of, or the final benefit of the atonement is for the elect alone. If the phrase means that God has the power (sufficient for all) to save everyone without exception (universalism) hypothetically if He wants to, I have no objection but apparently this is not what many moderate Calvinists understand of the phrase. I concur with Jim Ellis who concludes: “To say that Christ's death on the cross provided an atonement sufficient for all is to specifically suggest that He has atoned for the sins of all men, which is essentially a universal atonement. This is a false conception and makes us, along with those who hold to a universal atonement, say the opposite of what we mean.” He, quoting J. I. Pa