Some have attempted to use this text
to support limited atonement. Their argument is as follows. The “all” for whom Christ
died according to this passage, are given “all things.” The non-elect are not
given all things; therefore, Christ did not die for them. This is a modus tollens
argument as distinguished from a modus poens argument with an a
fortiori (greater to the lesser) laying as well: (1) if Christ died for you
(the great thing), you will be given “all things,” including all consequent
gifts (lesser things). (2) Some—i.e., the non-elect—are not given the lesser
things. (3) Therefore, Christ did not die for some (the non-elect). If P (you
are died-for; the great thing), then Q (all things are given; the lesser
things). Not Q (some are not given all things); therefore not P. The argument
has a valid model tollens form, but it is an unsound argument:
All the died-for receive all things.
Some do not receive all things;
Therefore, they are not died for.
Here is the fallacy: The “us” (in “delivered
Him up for us all,” Rom 8:32) is being converted into “all for whom Christ
died,” when, contextually, the “us” refers to believers, not all for whom
Christ died.
This line of reasoning fails to recognize
that Paul is addressing believers and describing their status as believers in
relation to God’s blessings. It confuses what Paul says to believers and about
believers and extrapolates it into an abstraction concerning all the elect,
whether believing or unbelieving. But this merely begs the question concerning
the extent of the atonement. The “all” in this passage refers to all believers,
as context makes clear. To conclude from Rom 8:32 that Christ died only for
believers and not for anyone else is to involve the negative inference
fallacy. (The proof of a given proposition does not disprove its converse.
One cannot infer a negative [e.g., “Christ did not die for Group A”] from a
positive statement [e.g., “Christ did die for Group B”)
Paul is not speaking about all the elect
qua elect, considered as an abstract class (the as yet unborn elect and
the living but unbelieving elect). Paul’s point is that no condemnation accrues
to believers for whom Christ died (the greatest gift) and that they will be
given all things (the lesser gifts), not that Christ did not die for all unbelievers.
(David L. Allen, The Atonement: A Biblical, Theological, and Historical
Study of the Cross of Christ [Nashville: B&H Academic, 2019], 93-94)
