The term limited atonement is not found in the bible, therefore we don't need to understand or believe it. Over and over again where I have seen "extra-biblical" terminology it has turned out to be from the mind of man.....it's a construct of the carnal mind trying to make sense of things that need to be spiritually discerned. Where we see scriptures that appear to the carnal mind to contradict themselves, we need the Holy Spirit to reconcile them to our understanding by the Spirit, because we know God doesn't contradict Himself or lie.
Limited atonement is a modern term just as being indwelled by the Holy Spirit is not found in scripture, since indwell is a modern term, yet we understand its meaning.
RC Sproul writes;
Limited atonement is taught in Scripture. Under the old covenant, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest of Israel offered an atoning sacrifice only for the people of Israel, not for everyone on the planet (
Lev. 16). In the new covenant, Jesus tells us that He lays His life down for His sheep and only for His sheep (
John 10:1–18). Some people are not His sheep but are goats. Jesus died not for the goats but for the sheep—His people. Some people have objected to limited atonement because of texts such as
1 John 2:2, which says Jesus is the propitiation not for our sins only but “for the sins of the whole world.” Yet, that text is not talking about the intent of the atonement; rather, it refers to the way of salvation more generally. God has provided only one way of salvation—through Christ (
John 14:6).
If anyone in the world is going to be saved, it is going to be through Him. There is no other way. The point of
1 John 2:2 is that Christ is the only atonement that can save anyone, not that He has atoned for the sins of every individual.
