Covenant Reformed News – November 2015 • Volume XV, Issue 19
This article defends the Reformed doctrine of Limited Atonement against Arminian and Amyraldian interpretations of 1 John 2:2 by arguing that the "whole world" cannot mean all people universally. Using two key arguments—the nature of propitiation and Christ's perfect intercession—the author demonstrates from Scripture and Reformed theologians like Francis Turretin that Christ's atonement and intercession are necessarily limited to the elect.
The “Whole World” in I John 2:2 A reader asks if the Arminian and Amyraldian doctrine of universal atonement is taught in I John 2:2: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Here are two simple arguments from the context which prove that I John 2:2’s reference to the “whole world” cannot refer to absolutely everybody, including the reprobate. First, the word “propitiation” (2:2) refers to the turning away of God’s wrath by...