Many people who call themselves Christians today have a big problem with the Calvinistic teaching that Jesus Christ's death on the cross was not for every single individual, but rather for a particular people called "the elect." This doctrine is known as "Limited Atonement" and is one of the major doctrines of Calvinism or Reformed Theology. People deny the idea of limited atonement because they hold to the idea that Christ died for every single person and the salvation of a particular individual is left up to the choices and abilities of that person, rather than the sovereign will of God Himself. We will take a look at 1 Timothy 2:4, which is one of the main scriptures used to argue against the doctrine of limited atonement.

1 Timothy 2:3-4 is a common passage used to argue for the idea that Jesus Christ died for each individual person every to live. These verses read: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." When this verse is read it appears as though God does in fact desire to save every single man. The only problem is the fact that this verse is almost always thrown out there by itself completely out of context. Many people read this verse and automatically apply a meaning to the phrase "all men" saying that it means every single person. But is this the only meaning of the phrase? Should we not look at the context of the passage to determine what the phrase actually means?

The first verse of chapter 4 of 1 Timothy states: "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men." If we are to be consistent with the application that the phrase "all men" means every single individual, was the author then saying that prayers should be made for every single individual? This would surely not even be a possible task to complete. Is this verse instead commanding that prayers be made for "all men" in a sense of kinds or classes of men? Well, the very next verse makes the answer clear: "For kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." In other words, do not just pray for yourselves or those who are like you, but also pray for those above you.

The "Kings and all who are in authority" were the very ones persecuting the Christians at the time of the writing of 1 Timothy, and therefore the writer of this book was commanding that prayers be made even for those who persecute them. Also, "Kings and all who are in authority" are kinds or classes of men. When we take this meaning of the phrase "all men" and apply it to the verse under discussion, it is clear that God is wanting all kinds of men to be saved, not just a particular group or class of people. Indeed, God also desires the salvation of certain people in the class of "kings and all who are in authority," but to say that God desires the salvation of every single individual person goes against the rest of scripture.

One of the major problems with teaching "Unlimited Atonement," or that Christ died for all men and the choice of salvation being left up to the individual, is that this places the condition of salvation upon the person, rather than God. It means that there is something in men that separates a saved person from a lost person, making them in a sense "better than the other." We have to ask ourselves what separates the saved from the lost. Is it that the saved are smarter, better, or more spiritual? Indeed not. The Bible makes it clear that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the only thing that separates those who are saved from those who are lost is one word: "Grace."

This is only one of the many verses taken out of context to try to refute Calvinism, and it must be remembered that we need to look at the context of a particular verse to determine what a word or phrase truly means and how it is being used. If we take things out of context, we can make the Bible say anything we want. This is a very dangerous thing to do because this is how cults are formed. We also need to see how our interpretations of particular verses or passages line up with the teachings of the rest of the Bible to ensure that there are no contradictions.