The Death of Death: A review of John Owen's perspective on the Atonement
“I cannot conceive an intention in God that Christ should satisfy his justice for the sin of them that were in hell some thousands of years before, and yet be still resolved to continue their punishment on them to all eternity.”
Did Jesus die for every person?
This may come as a shock to some American evangelicals, but many do not think so. One of those people was John Owen.
John Owen came from Welsh descent, was educated at Queens College, and became a renowned Puritan theologian, Oxford professor, and passionate pastor who lived from 1616 to 1683. In 1647, he wrote the exhaustive treatise The Death of Death defending Limited or Definite Atonement against the Arminian view of Universal Atonement or Unlimited Atonement.
Owen’s logic is represented succinctly when he writes, “If the blood of Jesus Christ washes, purges, cleanses, and sanctifies those for whom it was shed, or for whom he was a sacrifice, then surely he died, shed his blood, or was a sacrifice, only for those who ultimately are washed, purged, cleansed, and sanctified.”
Put simplistically into his reformed systematic theology: Jesus died only for the elect—limited atonement.
Now I am sure you, like me, immediately want to engage with Owen on his claim. To do that properly you will need to brew a few pots of coffee, grab a massive yeti thermos, and wade into the dense 316-page forest of an Oxford professor’s articulate philosophical, theological, and biblical argumentation.
What follows is just a drone shot or bird’s eye perspective of that forest to stir your inner motivations to pick up the weighty treatise.
John Owen’s Logical Argumentation:
Owen approaches almost all of his argumentation and biblical interpretation from his presupposition of reformed theology. As a result, his logic follows this pattern:
God Chooses the Elect and the Reprobate before the foundation of the world
God will accomplish all that he intends
God intends to reconcile, justify, sanctify, adopt, and glorify his Elect
Jesus accomplishes reconciliation, justification, sanctification, adoption, and glorification for all those whom he died for
Reconciliation, justification, sanctification, adoption, and glorification are only promised, secured, and bestowed upon God’s Elect
Therefore, Jesus died only for the Elect
In Owen’s theological system, to say that Jesus died for every single person would necessarily mean that every single person would be reconciled, justified, sanctified, adopted, and glorified—equating to a denial of hell and practical universalism. However, perhaps there is less or more than Owen cares to conceed.
John Owen’s Practical Concession:
For 95% of his treatise, Owen is relentless, calling into question the intellectual capability and honesty of his opponents and any that dare diverge from his airtight argumentation. However, he does offer a rare practical concession that reveals the pastoral heart inside the intellectual ivory tower.
When Owen examines Christ's death in terms of its merit, he writes the following:
“It was God’s plan for his Son to offer a sacrifice of infinite worth and value, capable of redeeming every person if God chose to use it that way, and even other worlds if God created and wanted to redeem them. So, Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient for the redemption of the entire world and for the forgiveness of all sins of every person… However, for it to be applied to anyone, to be a price for them, and to benefit them according to its worth, depends on God’s intention and will. The blood of Jesus was of infinite value and could have been a price for every person in the world.” (p. 183).
That brings Owen to recite an old distinction, “Christ died for all in terms of the sufficiency of the ransom he paid, but not in terms of the efficacy of its application.” (p. 183).
Owen then offers the unusual commentary and break from augmentation on how this allows preachers and ministers of the word to extend an open invitation to believe and respond to the gospel—as they do not know the secret things that belong to God, such as the election of souls.
Where I Disagree with John Owen:
Anytime you disagree with a theological mind like John Owen you should probably be concerned. I know I am. This guy got his BA and MA from Queens College at 19 years old. Comparatively, at 19 I was a sophomore at not a college, but a Bible Institute. Regardless of my intellectual inferiority, I offer this perspective.
First, let's start where we agree. I fully agree with Owen’s concession. The death of Jesus is sufficient for every person but only efficient for the elect.
However, I do not see this sufficiency in terms of a hypothetical possibility based on Jesus’ merit. Instead, I embrace a paradox. My ability to utilize language and reason cannot appropriately represent or articulate this paradox other than to say that the benefits of Jesus’ death are truly sufficient for every person within the reality of space and time and yet his death only secures its promises for those chosen by God outside of space and time.
This is my attempt to nuance how I understand “sufficient and efficient” differently than Owen.
When I say truly available to every person in space and time, what I mean is every person who hears the gospel has a real decision, for which they will be held accountable, where they can choose to confess their sin, place their faith in Jesus Christ, and surrender their lives to him.
And yet, outside of space and time, in his infinite wisdom, goodness, and sovereignty, God has chosen to gift faith to his elect and bestow upon them the reconciliation, justification, sanctification, adoption, and glorification provided by the death of Christ.
Why do I choose to differentiate sufficiency and efficiency with space and time? Because that is the simplest observation from what we see in scripture:
Sufficient for All
Acts 2:37-38 “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Peter genuinely calls every person to repentance—believing that they can in that moment in space and time respond to the gospel and receive all the blessings found in the death of Christ.
Acts 10:34-35 “So Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him… 43 everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Owen rightly points out that this passage does not necessitate that Jesus died for every person in the world. For this could only be referring to every one of the elect people among the nations who will respond in faith. However, within the context of Peter’s recorded exclamation, the simplest understanding is that in the space and time of the gospel presentation, Peter believes everyone who places their faith in Christ will be forgiven.
It is the multiple passages like those above that lead me to conclude there is more present in Hebrews 2:9 than what Owen sees.
Hebrews 2:9 “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
Owen rightly argues that Christ could not have died, or “taste death”, for every single person in the sense of bringing reconciliation, justification, sanctification, adoption, and glorification, otherwise all people would be saved—which is false. The context of Hebrews 2:9 also goes on in verse 10 to articulate that the author only sees a select “many” that will see these benefits. This leads Owen to conclude that the “everyone” in this passage is referring to every one of those who will believe—the elect.
I find that reasoning predicated on his logical presuppositional commitment to his systematic theology rather than honest reading of the inspired author’s expression—Christ tasted death for “everyone.” In some paradoxical way, Christ’s death is sufficient in time and space so that “whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already…” (John 3:16b-18).
Scripture is full of personal invitations to respond to the gospel where in space and time that invitation is honestly and sincerely open to each and every person, to make their real and accountable decision to accept and believe or reject Jesus Christ. And yet, outside of space and time, God has ordained it so that only those whom He has graciously called will respond.
Efficient for the Elect
Ephesians 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…”
Owen conclusively argues that Jesus’ death brought all of the gracious benefits that God intended before the foundation of the world for his chosen. Paul continues in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is a gift of God…”
Only those chosen by God outside of space and time, before the foundation of the world, according to his sovereign design and gracious gift, will receive faith to believe and surrender to Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 1:8-9 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…”
Before the ages began God had his purpose and grace designed for his people. Only those whom he purposed before space and time were created are effectually called to salvation and receive the fullness of what Christ purchased on the cross. And this is a glorious truth, for when we confess our sins and place our faith in Christ, we can be confident that we have all that he promised and purchased.
However, as we live in the paradox of the already and not yet, existing inside space and time with imperfect knowledge, we should embrace some aspects of the gospel that appear paradoxical. The most staggering being that death itself has brought life and that a righteous perfect judge can declare a wretched sinner as I, justified. As Owen alludes to in a moment of uncharacteristic practicality, the messenger of the gospel does not know the things God has determined before the ages.
Therefore, the minister of the gospel must embrace the reality that Christ’s death is paradoxically sufficient for every person you ever meet when you meet them—all while being efficient for only those whom he has already chosen to save from before the foundation of the world.
