Great question Billy!
I believe in Unlimited Atonement, or that Jesus Christ died for everyone. I want to discuss two reasons that limited atonement is incorrect: the Bible contradicts it and it limits God's love for the World
Bible Contradicts
Verses:
1 John 2:1-22
Corinthians 5:14-15
John 1:29
1 Timothy 2:3-6
John 3:17-18
1 John 2:1-2, "1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate(A) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
(A) Gr Paracletos, one called alongside to help; or Intercessor.
Here John clearly states that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. Jesus died once and for all for all.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15, "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."
Here Paul clearly states that Christ died for all.
John 1:29, "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
Here John exclaimed to those around him that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
1 Timothy 2:3-6, "3This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time."
If God desires all men to be saved it is nonsensical to say He only provided the route of salvation to a select few?
John 3:17-18, "7For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Here Jesus says that God sent Him into the world to save the world. Not just part of it, all of it.
Limits God's Love for the WorldJohn 3:16, "16"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Here Jesus explains God's motivation for sending Him into the world: Love. God's love for the world prompted Him to send His only son into the world to save it. To limit the death of Jesus as only paying for some of the world's sins is to limit God's love for the world. God loves the entire world, so limited atonement would make this a contradiction. It's the same as the previous point: if God said he wants everyone to be saved it's nonsensical that He would only provide the way for a select few.
Objections to Unlimited Atonement
I want to also spend a moment and address the two reasons I know of that people use to disagree with unlimited atonement.
The first objection is that unlimited atonement contradicts predestination. To this I would say two things. First, read my post “What is predestination all about? Do we have freewill?”. Second, I would say that predestination and unlimited atonement are not in contradiction. John Piper (an avid Calvinist mind you) aptly stated that Christ’s death was “sufficient for all and efficient for the elect.” Now I’m not advocating Calvinism (my predestination post addresses that) but it shows you that quite obviously the two doctrines can coexist.
The second objection is that the Greek word translated “all” in 1 John 2:2 and “world” in John 3:16 don’t refer to all people but rather just the elect. This is irrelevant as the Greek word for “all” used in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (“πάντων”) is defined by Strongs Numbers as “including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole -- all (manner of, means), alway(-s), any (one), X daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no(-thing), X thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.” It therefore quite obvious that this word means “all” or “everything” and therefore the argumentation for Unlimited Atonement via 2 Corinthians 5 still stands.
Conclusion
I hope this answers your question, Billy. I also invite the other CFA authors to comment with their input if they wish.
Thanks for the question!
God bless,
Robert A. Rowlett