Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The above verse is often used as absolute proof that Christ died for everyone, that his atonement paid the penalty for everyone without exception (unlimited atonement). Jesus bore the sins of everyone who ever lived. Yet a few verses further we find:

Isaiah 53:12, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

Which is it? Did Christ die and bear the sins of everyone, or just some (many)? If both passages are true, because the Bible does not contradict itself, Christ died for “all” and He died for “Many” which is NOT “all”. Is that possible? Well. . .yes it is.

I serve on the board of directors of an organization and as boards do, we have meetings. At the outset of any meeting, you will hear the question, “Are we all here?” In that case “all“ means everyone who was supposed to be in attendance. I am sure you can think of any number of identical usages of the term “all”. In fact, when do we ever use “all” to mean every person on the planet, without exception? Never?

Back to our two passages. “We” in verse 6 and “us” in verse 12 define the “all” in both passages. So Who does “we” and “us” refer to? Who is Isaiah talking about? There is only one answer – the chosen people of God – the elect. The iniquity of all of God’s elect was laid on His Son, and His Son bore all of the iniquity of all the elect.

Does the above apply to the uses of “all” in the New Testament? Search them out and judge for yourself. In the end, you will probably believe what you want to believe. but go for it anyway.

Let me leave you with just one question:

How is it that we almost never use “all” to refer to everyone without exception in our daily lives, yet we love to say it means everyone on the planet almost everywhere it is used in connection with the extent of the atonement? What’s up with that?

Food for thought. . .