1st Peter 3:18
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
Calvinists, Williams and Peterson: “The apostle also teaches that Christ’s death made a substitutionary atonement when he writes, ‘the righteous for the unrighteous’ (1 Pet 3:18). A literal translation of these words is, ‘the just one for the unjust ones.’” (Why I am Not an Arminian, p.197)
Williams and Peterson: “Christ died in the place of his people, bearing the penalty that their sins deserved.” (Why I am Not an Arminian, p.213, emphasis mine)
Peter actually said concerning Christ’s death that it was the “just for the unjust.” What Calvinists have in mind is “his people” meaning Calvinism’s elect, which is despite the fact that Peter establishes no such caste system. Instead, we simply have a reference of the “just for the unjust.” Whenever Calvinists are pinned down, they will either assume that the text refers to the Calvinism’s elect, or else that there must be a secret-will involved.
Calvinist paraphrase: Christ also died for sins [of Calvinism’s elect] once for all, the just for [Calvinism’s elect].
Laurence Vance: “Are only the ‘elect’ lost? Are only the ‘elect’ ungodly? Are the ‘elect’ the only ones who were under the law? Are only the ‘elect’ sinners? Are only the ‘elect’ unjust? If Christ died for and came to save the lost, the ungodly, those under the law, sinners, and the unjust, then he must have made an unlimited atonement, for that is the condition of all men--not just the ‘elect.’ Therefore, Jesus Christ is ‘the Saviour of the world’ (John 4:42; 1 Johns 4:14), whether all men accept him or not.” (The Other Side of Calvinism, p.458)
