In Acts 20:28 we read that Paul declared the following to the elders of the ecclesia in Ephesus:
“Take heed to yourselves and to the entire flocklet, among which the holy spirit appointed you supervisors, to be shepherding the ecclesia of God, which He procures through the blood of His Own.”
Similarly, in Titus 2:14-15 Paul wrote the following concerning those whom he referred to elsewhere in the letter as “God’s chosen” (Titus 1:1) and “those who have believed God” (3:8):
“…our Savior, Jesus Christ, Who gives Himself for us, that He should be redeeming us from all lawlessness and be cleansing for Himself a people to be about Him, zealous for ideal acts.”
And in Ephesians 5:25-27 (after referring to Christ as “Head of the ecclesia” and “the Savior of the body” in v. 23), Paul declared the following:
“Husbands, be loving your wives according as Christ also loves the ecclesia, and gives Himself up for its sake, that He should be hallowing it, cleansing it in the bath of the water (with His declaration), that He should be presenting to Himself a glorious ecclesia, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that it may be holy and flawless.”
In these passages, Paul was referring to Christ’s redemptive work on behalf of those who belong to the company of saints that Paul referred to elsewhere as “the body of Christ” (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 6:15-19; 10:16-17; 12:12-27; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4, 12-16; 5:23-24, 30; Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19; 3:15). It is this company of saints who, according to what we read in Eph. 1:3 and 19, will be enjoying “every spiritual blessing among the celestials” and “the riches of the glory of the enjoyment of [God’s] allotment among the saints.” This future “allotment” will further involve the state of affairs that we find described in Eph. 2:4-7 as follows:
“…yet God, being rich in mercy, because of His vast love with which He loves us (we also being dead to the offenses and the lusts), vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you saved!) and rouses us together and seats us together among the celestials, in Christ Jesus, that, in the oncoming eons, He should be displaying the transcendent riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Moreover, it’s evident from what Paul wrote in verses 13-14 that every member of the body of Christ is certain to receive this allotment at a future time:
“In Whom you also -- on hearing the word of truth, the evangel of your salvation -- in Whom on believing also, you are sealed with the holy spirit of promise (which is an earnest of the enjoyment of our allotment, to the deliverance of that which has been procured) for the laud of His glory!”
It’s clear from these and other similar passages of Scripture that the salvation of believers was secured through Christ’s death, and that those for whose sake we’re told Christ “gave Himself” (and who comprise the ecclesia that we’re told God procured “through the blood of His Own”) will, in fact, be saved. It is the efficacy of Christ’s redemptive work with regard to believers that made it possible for Paul to refer to both God and Christ as the Savior of believers. Consider the following examples:
“…Christ is Head of the ecclesia, and He is the Saviour of the body.” (Eph. 5:23)
“…according to the injunction of God, our Saviour, to Titus, a genuine child according to the common faith: Grace and peace from God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, our Saviour.” (Titus 1:3-4)
“…anticipating that happy expectation, even the advent of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ…” (Titus 2:13)
When Paul referred to either God or Christ as “the Savior” of believers, it’s clear that he believed that those of whom God and Christ are said to be “the Savior” will, in fact, be saved (which is, of course, why Paul was able to refer to God and Christ as our “Savior”). Keeping this fact in mind, let’s now consider what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:9-11. In these verses we read the following:
“Faithful is the saying and worthy of all welcome (for for this are we toiling and being reproached), that we rely on the living God, Who is the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers. These things be charging and teaching.”
Since Paul referred to God as “the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers,” we can conclude that Paul believed that “all mankind” – and not just believers – will be saved by God (for the word “especially” does not mean “exclusively”). Although believers are being saved first (hence Paul’s use of the word “especially”), God remains the Savior of the rest of those who constitute “all mankind.” And since Paul made a distinction between believers and the rest of “all mankind,” we can conclude that everyone who dies in unbelief will ultimately be saved by God, their Savior (otherwise, God wouldn’t be “the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers”; he would instead be the Savior of believers only).
In spite of what Paul wrote in 1 Tim. 4:10, most Christians maintain that it is believers exclusively – and not “especially,” as Paul wrote – who will be saved by God. In accord with this position, many Christians understand Christ’s redemptive work as something that, while sufficient to save all sinners, will ultimately only benefit some (i.e., believers). For example, in a transcript from a message delivered by the late Christian theologian and pastor, R.C. Sproul, we read the following on the subject of what most Christians believe concerning Christ’s redemptive work:
It’s traditional to say that the atoning work of Christ is sufficient for all. That is, the meritorious value of the atonement is sufficient to cover the sins of all people, and certainly, anyone who puts their trust in Jesus Christ will receive the full measure of the benefits of that atonement.
It is also important to understand that the gospel is to be preached universally. This universal offer of the gospel is another controversial point. On the one hand, the gospel is offered universally to all who are within earshot of its preaching. On the other hand, it’s not offered universally in the sense that it’s offered to everyone without any conditions. It’s offered to anyone who believes. It’s offered to anyone who repents. And the merit of Christ’s atonement is given to all who believe and to all who repent of their sins.
One of the traditional ways of talking about this is to say that the atonement is sufficient for all but efficient for some. That is, not everyone actually receives the full benefits wrought by Christ’s saving work on the cross; namely, those who do not believe.
So far, all of those distinctions simply distinguish our theology from universalism. All who are particularists, that is, all Christians who are not universalists, would agree that Christ’s atonement is sufficient for all and efficient only for some.[1]
According to the position expressed above (which, again, is the position to which most Christians hold), Christ’s redemptive work is only potentially beneficial to sinners; although it is “sufficient to cover the sins of all people,” it is only “efficient” (or, as I would prefer to describe Christ’s redemptive work, “effective” or “efficacious”) for those who meet certain conditions. In accord with this distinction between the “sufficiency” of Christ’s redemptive work and its effectiveness, some Christians prefer to describe Christ’s redemptive work as “provisional.” By this they don’t mean that all people are (or will be) actually provided with salvation (which would entail that all people will ultimately be saved); rather, they mean that Christ’s redemptive work simply makes salvation available to all sinners (without actually securing the salvation of anyone). According to this view, the salvation that is “provided” (or made available) by Christ’s redemptive work is only “applied” to, and thus effective for, believers.
This commonly-made distinction between the “sufficiency” or “provision” of Christ’s redemptive work and its “efficiency” is not scriptural. What we instead find revealed in Scripture – specifically, in the letters of the apostle Paul – is that Christ’s redemptive work will be effective for all sinners, and will ultimately result in the salvation of everyone for whom God intended it to provide salvation. To demonstrate the truth of this, let’s begin by considering the evangel or “gospel” that Paul said was entrusted to him to herald among the nations (Gal. 1:16; 2:2), and which he referred to as “the evangel of the Uncircumcision” (Gal. 2:7). According to what we read in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, this gospel consists of the following two facts: (1) “that Christ died for our sins” and (2) “that He has been roused the third day.” The words “roused the third day” refer, of course, to the resurrection of Christ (1 Cor. 15:12-16). But what does it mean for Christ to have “died for our sins?”
Depending on how it’s used, the word translated “for” in the expression “Christ died for our sins” (ὑπέρ or “huper”) can mean “on behalf of,” “for the sake of” or “concerning” (https://biblehub.com/greek/5228.htm). In the letter to the Hebrews, there are a number of verses in which we find this term used in connection with sins (see Heb. 5:1, 3; 7:27; 9:7; 10:12). In all of these verses, the author had a “sin offering” in view – that is, a sacrifice offered to God that is intended to deal with the sin(s) of those for whom the sacrifice is offered. With regard to what a sin offering accomplished, consider the following verses from Leviticus:
Lev. 4:26
And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.
Lev. 4:35
And all its fat he shall remove as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of Yahweh’s food offerings. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
Lev. 5:10
Then he shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the rule. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
When a sinner on whose behalf a sin offering was sacrificed was “forgiven” by God, it meant that God ceased to reckon the sin to the individual (and that the sin thus ceased to be a source of condemnation for the one who committed it). Thus, in those verses where we find the term huper (“for”) being used in connection with a sin offering (and the sin for which the sacrifice was offered), it essentially means “to deal with” sin (i.e., by securing the elimination/removal of the sin for which it was offered).
Significantly, Paul elsewhere referred to Christ’s death using words and imagery derived from the sin offering (Rom. 3:24-25; 8:3; Eph. 5:1-2). Not only this, but in 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul explicitly stated that Christ was made a sin offering for our sakes:
”For the One not knowing sin, [God] makes to be a sin offering for our sakes that we may be becoming God’s righteousness in Him.”
Instead of “sin offering,” many translations have “sin.” However, even if the Greek word hamartia is translated “sin” here, Paul cannot be understood to mean that Christ literally became sin for our sakes. There is simply no meaningful sense in which this could literally be true. Nor can these words be understood to mean that Christ became a sinner (or sinful) for our sakes, for Christ never sinned during his lifetime, and his death was an act of perfect obedience to God. On the other hand, translating “sin” as “sin offering” in this verse not only makes good sense, but it’s consistent with the usage of the word sin in the Hebrew Scriptures (as well as in the LXX, or Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures). There, the word “sin” is frequently (more than one hundred times) used to denote a sin offering.[2] Understanding Paul’s use of the term “sin” in 2 Cor. 5:21 to mean a “sin offering” is also consistent with what is said elsewhere in the Greek Scriptures concerning the nature of Christ’s sacrifice (e.g., Heb. 7:27; 10:12).
Now, insofar as a sin offering is a sacrifice offered to God that has, as its design and intended purpose, the elimination of the sin of those for whom the sacrifice is offered (such that the sin ceases to be reckoned to the sinner by God), it follows that the sins of everyone for whom Christ died shall be eliminated as a source of condemnation, and will cease to be reckoned to them by God. Thus, to believe that “Christ died for our sins” is to believe that Christ died to secure the elimination/taking away of our sins, and that the sins for which Christ died shall be (and not merely “can be,” or “may be”) eliminated/taken away. This means that the sins of everyone for whom Christ died are going to be eliminated (with the implication being that everyone for whom Christ died shall be justified, or declared righteous by God).
This understanding of what Christ accomplished through his death is further confirmed by Paul in Romans 5:15-19:
But not as the offense, thus also the grace. For if, by the offense of the one, the many died, much rather the grace of God and the gratuity in grace, which is of the One Man, Jesus Christ, to the many superabounds.
And not as through one act of sinning is the gratuity. For, indeed, the judgment is out of one into condemnation, yet the grace is out of many offenses into a just award. For if, by the offense of the one, death reigns through the one, much rather, those obtaining the superabundance of grace and the gratuity of righteousness shall be reigning in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Consequently, then, as it was through one offense for all mankind for condemnation, thus also it is through one just award for all mankind for life's justifying. For even as, through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners, thus also, through the obedience of the One, the many shall be constituted just.
The obedience of Christ to which Paul was referring in this passage is the same obedience to which he referred in Phil. 2:8 (where we read that Christ became “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”), and the “grace of God” referred to in v. 15 – which we’re told “super-abounds” to all who were “constituted sinners” – involves that which Christ secured by his obedient death on behalf of all mankind (with the ultimate outcome of this grace being expressed in the words “for life’s justifying” and “shall be constituted just” in verses 18-19). It is, I believe, in light of the centrality that God’s grace had in Paul's understanding of the salvation of everyone for whom Christ died that Paul referred to the gospel that he heralded among the nations as “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
Some have objected that the expression “the many” in v. 19 places a restriction on the words “all mankind” in v. 18. However, the same people referred to as “the many” in v. 15 were previously referred to as “all mankind” in v. 12. And it’s further evident from v. 19 that the same “many” who have been negatively affected by “the disobedience of the one man” (i.e., Adam) will also be positively affected by “the obedience of the One” (i.e., Christ). Since all human beings except Christ were constituted sinners (and thus condemned to die) as a result of Adam’s sin, it follows that these same individuals – i.e., all human beings – will be “constituted just” through the obedience of Christ. It should also be noted that, in the immediate context in which Paul used the expression “the many,” both Adam and Jesus Christ are referred to as “the one man” and “the one.” Thus, rather than placing a restriction on the words “all mankind,” Paul used the expression “the many” in v. 15 and v. 19 as a way of contrasting two individual men (both of whom are referred to as “the one”) with the rest of mankind (“the many”). That is, the contrast Paul was making is between “one” and “many,” and not between “many” and “all.”
Thus, just as all humanity fell under condemnation because of the disobedience of “the one man,” Adam, so all humanity will ultimately become the recipients of the grace secured by the obedience of Christ (who Paul referred to as both “the last Adam” and “the second Man” in 1 Cor. 15:45-47). And this means that all mankind – i.e., “the many” affected by the obedience of “the One” – “shall be constituted just.” This outcome for all who have been “constituted sinners” is in accord with the purpose for which we’re told Christ came into the world. In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul wrote the following:
“Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all welcome, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, foremost of whom am I.”
If a person can be considered a “sinner,” then we can conclude that Christ came into the world to save them. This, of course, would include all sinners who “die in their sins” (John 8:21, 24; cf. 1 Cor. 15:17). Moreover, if Paul used the expression “Christ died for our sins” whenever he heralded the gospel of the grace of God among the nations during the course of his apostolic ministry (as is likely), the term “our” should be understood as embracing unbelievers (for it included everyone to whom Paul and his co-laborers heralded – or could’ve heralded – this gospel, whether they actually ended up believing it or not). And the same could be said if Paul instead used the expression “your sins” (rather than “our sins”). This means that, whenever Paul and his co-laborers heralded the gospel, they understood the sinners for whom Christ died to necessarily include every unbeliever who heard, or who could’ve heard, the message they were heralding (and this, of course, would’ve included unbelievers whom they would’ve had no reason to believe were actually going to believe the gospel they were heralding).
Further confirmation of the truth that Christ’s redemptive work will be effective for all is found in Paul’s words in 1 Tim. 4:3-7. In these verses we read the following:
“God…wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all (the testimony in its own eras), for which I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the nations in knowledge and truth.”
Notice that it was for the testimony that Christ “is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all” that Paul said he was “appointed a herald and an apostle…a teacher of the nations in knowledge and truth.” Since we know that it was for the sake of the gospel that Paul was appointed a herald and an apostle (Acts 20:24; Rom. 1:1; 15:16, 19; 1 Cor. 1:17; Eph. 3:7; 2 Tim. 1:11), we can reasonably infer that the fact that Christ “is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all” is essential to, and inseparable from, the gospel entrusted to Paul. And since Paul undoubtedly had in view the purpose for which Christ died here, it follows that the expression “[Christ] is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all” was understood by Paul as conveying the same basic meaning as the expression “Christ died for our sins.”
But for whom did Christ give himself a “correspondent Ransom?” According to Paul, it is “all.” The literal meaning of “all” refers to every member of whatever category of people or things that are in view – i.e., the entire number or quantity of people or things in view. And the immediate context in which Paul used the word “all” in v. 6 informs us of who, exactly, is included in the “all” for whom we’re told Christ gave himself a “correspondent Ransom”: it is all who belong to the category of “mankind” (anthrōpos). In other words, it includes every human being who is, or will be, in need of being saved (and whom we’re thus told God wills to be saved). Contextually, then, we can conclude that when Paul used the word “all” in 1 Tim. 4:6, he was referring to all mankind.
But what does it mean for Christ to have given himself “a correspondent Ransom for all”? Answer: the word translated “correspondent Ransom” in the above passage is “antilutron,” and is a combination of the Greek prefix “anti” and the noun “lutron.” The prefix “anti” means, “instead of,” “corresponding to,” or “serving as the equivalent of,” while the noun “lutron” is the same word translated as “ransom” in Matthew 20:28 and elsewhere. Concerning the meaning of the word “lutron” in Matt. 20:28, we read the following in an entry by Archibald M'Caig in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:
The word [Christ] uses bears a well-established meaning, and is accurately rendered by our word “ransom,” a price paid to secure the freedom of a slave or to set free from liabilities and charges, and generally the deliverance from calamity by paying the forfeit. The familiar verb luo, “to loose,” “to set free,” is the root, then lutron, that which secures the freedom, the payment or forfeit; thence come the cognate verb lutroo, “to set free upon payment of a ransom,” “to redeem”; lutrosis, “the actual setting free,” “the redemption,” and lutrotes, “the redeemer.” The favorite New Testament word for “redemption” is the compound form, apolutrosis.[3]
After providing some general cases of the usage of the word “ransom” in the Hebrew Scriptures, M’Caig continues as follows:
But perhaps the most important passage is the law concerning the half-shekel to be paid by every Israelite from 20 years old and upward when a census was taken. It was to be the same for rich and poor, and it was called “atonement money,” “to make atonement for their souls.” In the opening words of the law, as given in Ex 30:12 (the King James Version), we read “Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord”--the Hebrew kopher; the Septuagint rendering is lutra tes psuches autou, “a ransom price for his soul.” All the people were thus considered as doomed and needing atonement, and it is significant that this atonement money paid at the first census furnished the silver for the sockets of the tabernacle boards, intimating that the typical tabernacle was built upon atonement.
The same thought, that the people’s lives were forfeited, comes out in the provision for the consecration of the Levites, recorded in full in Nu 3:40-51. The firstborn represented the people. God claimed all the firstborn as forfeited to Himself, teaching that Israel deserved the same punishment as the Egyptians, and was only spared by the grace of Yahweh, and in virtue of the sprinkled blood. Now He takes to Himself for His services the Levites as the equivalent of the firstborn, and when it was found that the number of the firstborn exceeded the number of the Levites, equivalence was maintained by ransoming at a certain price the surplus of the firstborn males. In the Septuagint account, lutra occurs 4 times, twice for the phrase “those to be redeemed,” and twice for “redemption money.” Thus the idea of ransom for the forfeited life became familiar to the people as educated by the typical system, and redemption expressed the sum total of their hopes for the future, however faulty might be their conception of the nature of that redemption.
Based on the above scriptural data (see the full entry by M’Caig for more examples), we can conclude that the word antilutron in 1 Tim. 2:6 denotes the payment by which one’s release from captivity (or deliverance from some other kind of undesired condition) is secured, and which corresponds to (or “serves as the equivalent of”) the need for which the payment was required. We can therefore conclude that the salvation of everyone for whom Christ gave himself a “correspondent Ransom” – i.e., all mankind – was secured when Christ died on the cross in obedience to God, and that all mankind shall therefore be saved. Commenting on the meaning of the words “correspondent ransom,” A.B. Screws remarked as follows:
“Christ's death is the exact equivalent of the need of the human family. And that need is more than to simply be restored to the Adamic “purity.” We need the grace that superabounds - not grace that puts us back in Adam’s condition. Everything that is needed to affect the salvation of all mankind (I Tim. 2:4) is supplied in Christ. It is in this sense that He is ‘the One giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all.’ Nor would it be amiss to consider the meaning of ransom. It will secure the release of the person for whom it is paid, unless the one accepting the ransom intends to deceive the one paying it. If Christ gives Himself a correspondent Ransom for all, and any part of the human family is not subsequently released, then God has deceived His Son. In other words, since Christ gives Himself a correspondent ransom for all, all must be saved, or else God stands eternally discredited as dishonest. Perish the thought! No one can read 1 Tim. 2:3-6, and believe every word of it, without believing in the salvation of all humanity.“[4]
I’ll conclude this study by considering a verse that is commonly appealed to in defense of the view that Christ’s redemptive work is effective only for some. In Matthew 20:28 we read the following:
“…the Son of Mankind came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give His soul a ransom for many.”
To whom was Christ referring when he spoke of “many” here? Some believe that those referred to as “many” in Matt. 20:28 are identical with “the many” referred to by Paul in Rom. 5:12-19. I don’t think this view is correct, however. As has already been argued, Paul was referring to all mankind when he referred to “the many” in Rom. 5:12-19, and was contrasting them with two men (each of whom is referred to by Paul as “the one”). However, no such contrast occurs in Matt. 20:28, and there is no indication that Christ was referring to all mankind here. And in contrast with Paul’s reference to all mankind in Rom. 5:12-19, the article “the” is not used in Matt. 20:28 in connection with the term “many.” That is, it is not “the many” in Matt. 20:28, but simply “many.” Moreover, when Christ declared what he did in Matt. 20:28, the future justification of all mankind through the obedience of Christ had not yet been revealed (for it was to Paul that Christ later revealed this truth).
I believe Christ’s later words in Matthew 26:27-28 can inform our understanding of who Christ had in mind when he referred to “many” in Matt. 20:28. In these verses we read the following:
”And taking the cup and giving thanks, He gives it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it all, for this is my blood of the new covenant, that is shed for many for the pardon of sins.’”
In both Matt. 20:28 and 26:28, we read of Christ speaking of his death as something that he would undergo on behalf of a certain category of people who are referred to as “many.” It’s therefore reasonable to conclude that the “many” being referred to in both verses consists of the same individuals. And in the second verse, Christ connected his death to the new covenant. Elsewhere, this covenant is described as a covenant that God would make “with the house of Israel” (see Heb. 8:8, 10). It’s further revealed that Christ became the mediator of this covenant through his death (Heb. 7:22; 8:6; 9:15-17; 10:29, 12:24, 13:20). This is in accord with the fact that, during his earthly ministry, Christ “was not commissioned except for the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24; cf. 10:6). It’s therefore reasonable to conclude that those referred to as “many” in Matt. 20:28 are those among “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” who, as a result of Christ’s redemptive work, will be receiving all of the promised spiritual blessings associated with the new covenant.
Concerning the efficacious nature of Christ’s redemptive work on behalf of those referred to in Matt. 20:28 as “many,” Lorraine Boettner (who was an American Christian theologian in the Reformed tradition) wrote the following:
Christ is said to have been a ransom for his people — “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many,” Matt. 20:28. Notice, this verse does not say that He gave His life a ransom for all, but for many. The nature of a ransom is such that when paid and accepted it automatically frees the persons for whom it was intended. Otherwise it would not be a true ransom. Justice demands that those for whom it is paid shall be freed from any further obligation. If the suffering and death of Christ was a ransom for all men rather than for the elect only, then the merits of His work must be communicated to all alike and the penalty of eternal punishment cannot be justly inflicted on any. God would be unjust if He demanded this extreme penalty twice over, first from the substitute and then from the persons themselves. The conclusion then is that the atonement of Christ does not extend to all men but that it is limited to those for whom He stood surety; that is, to those who compose His true Church.
I agree with Boettner that those whom Christ referred to as “many” in Matt. 20:28 are a limited number of people, and do not constitute all mankind. However, I reject Boettner’s view that Christ’s redemptive work is limited to “the elect only.” As noted earlier, the very fact that Paul heralded (and was able to herald) the truth that “Christ died for our sins” to those who ended up dying in unbelief with regard to this truth (and who thus weren’t “elect”) proves that Christ died for the sins of all. Moreover, if Christ’s use of the word “many” in Matthew 20:28 means that he wasn’t talking about all human beings at this time (as Boettner argues), then consistency demands the following: If the word “all” is used in a context in which all human beings are in view, then it shouldn’t be understood as a reference to the same limited number of people whom Christ had in view in Matt. 20:28. Rather, it should be understood as a reference to all mankind. And this, of course, is precisely what we find in 1 Tim. 2:6. In this verse, we’re not told that Christ gave himself a correspondent Ransom for “many,” but for “all.” In other words, what we read in this verse is exactly what Boettner stressed was not the case with regard to Matt. 20:28.
Moreover, if we should understand the salvation of the “many” who are in view in Matthew 20:28 as having been secured through Christ’s redemptive work on their behalf (as I believe Boettner correctly argues), then consistency demands that we also believe that the salvation of the “all” who are in view in 1 Tim. 2:5 (and for whom Christ gave himself a “correspondent Ransom”) is just as certain and secure. Here, again, is Boettner:
The nature of a ransom is such that when paid and accepted it automatically frees the persons for whom it was intended. Otherwise it would not be a true ransom. Justice demands that those for whom it is paid shall be freed from any further obligation. If the suffering and death of Christ was a ransom for all men rather than for the elect only, then the merits of His work must be communicated to all alike…
In light of these considerations, we can conclude that those referred to as “many” in Matt. 20:28 are not the only people whose salvation was secured as a result of Christ’s redemptive work. As was later revealed through the apostle to whom “the gospel of the grace of God” was entrusted, Christ’s redemptive work will also be effective for all mankind.
[1] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/what-is-reformed-theology/limited-atonement
[2] The following are all (or nearly all) of the verses in which the word sin is used in the Hebrew Scriptures (and in the LXX) to refer to a sin offering: Ex. 29:14, Ex. 29:36; Lev. 4:3, Lev. 4:8, Lev. 4:20, Lev. 4:21, Lev. 4:24, Lev. 4:25, Lev. 4:29, Lev. 4:32-34; Lev. 5:6, Lev. 5:7, Lev. 5:8, Lev. 5:9, Lev. 5:11, Lev. 5:12; Lev. 6:17, Lev. 6:25, Lev. 6:30; Lev. 7:7, Lev. 7:37; Lev. 8:2, Lev. 8:14; Lev. 9:2, Lev. 9:3, Lev. 9:7, Lev. 9:8, Lev. 9:10, Lev. 9:15, Lev. 9:22; Lev. 10:16, Lev. 10:17, Lev. 10:19; Lev. 12:6, Lev. 12:8; Lev. 14:13, Lev. 14:19, Lev. 14:22, Lev. 14:31; Lev. 15:15, Lev. 15:30; Lev. 16:3, Lev. 16:5, Lev. 16:6, Lev. 16:9, Lev. 16:11, Lev. 16:15, Lev. 16:25, Lev. 16:27; Lev. 23:19; Num. 6:11, Num. 6:14, Num. 6:16; Num. 7:16, Num. 7:22, Num. 7:28, Num. 7:34, Num. 7:40, Num. 7:46, Num. 7:52, Num. 7:58, Num. 7:70, Num. 7:76, Num. 7:82, Num. 7:87; Num. 8:8, Num. 8:12; Num. 15:24, Num. 15:25, Num. 15:27; Num. 18:9; Num. 28:15, Num. 28:22; Num. 29:5, Num. 29:11, Num. 29:16, Num. 29:22, Num. 29:25, Num. 29:28, Num. 29:31, Num. 29:34, Num. 29:38; 2 Ch. 2Ch. 29:21, 2Ch. 29:23, 2Ch. 29:24; Ezr. 6:17; Ezr. 8:35; Neh. 10:33; Job 1:5; Ez. 43:19, Ez. 43:22, Ez. 43:25; Ez. 44:27, Ez. 44:29; Ez. 45:17, Ez. 45:19, Ez. 45:22, Ez. 45:23, Ez. 45:25.
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