Dave Hunt, co-author of Debating Calvinism, represents the Arminian side in which he argues that the intent of Jesus’ death on the cross was to lay the sins of every man, woman, and child upon Him—thus, making all of mankind savable. Hunt’s argument is simply representative of the vast majority of synergists who attempt to argue that God must attempt to save everyone equally and that Jesus’ death must cover all of humanity in order to demonstrate His love. The irony of this issue, however, is that while Arminians insist that God strives equally to save each of His creatures and that the scope of Jesus’ death is spread to all of mankind without exception, they never utter a complaint about the extent of salvation in the Old Testament.

That is, have you ever heard an Arminian complain about the Passover and argue that God is unjust because He did not grant the same opportunity to the Egyptians as He did with the Hebrew people? Or have you read anyone lately attempting to argue that Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, really covered the sins of the Amalekites, Moabites, Ammonites, or Hittites?

If the Passover and Yom Kippur were intended for only a finite number of people (the Jews), upon what rational basis, then, do so many argue that God’s intention must be to save all mankind without exception when reading the New Testament? If the same God in the Old Testament saved only a remnant for Himself--and that is acceptable--why is there such a leap to believe that God’s intention was to save the entire human race when discussing the New Testament?

I would suggest to you that the greatest objection people make towards limiting the scope of the atonement is the objection to God’s sovereignty over His creation, namely, man. Hunt and countless others refuse to believe the clear words of Scripture: "The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov 16:4). God sent His Son to earth to fulfill a specific mission, to save His people from their sins (Matt 1:21), and that is exactly what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary. Jesus turned away the wrath of God—the wrath that should have been poured out upon us—by taking our place, and because of that faithful mission, He is now interceding for us and will raise us up on the last day (cf. John 6:44).