I was at this event where a self-proclaimed Pelagian argued that all people must have benefited from Christ's death, or else it would mean that Adam's fall was more mighty. After all, according to a Reformed view, Adam's fall affected everyone, but Christ's salvation only affects some.
Here are four attempted answers:
- Christ's salvation achieves more than just the salvation of the elect. Christ's salvation brings about an entire new creation.
- Christ saves all of his 'race', just as Adam kills all of his 'race'. That is, the elect are the proper point of comparison to the fallen human race.
- Christ's death has the capacity to save all. Whether or not it gets applied to all does not cancel out the fact that it has the great capactiy to cover the entire fallen human race.
- Christ's salvation brings about a great reversal of the corruption and death of many sins. Adam's sin was simply one act that had great consequences. Yes it had great ramifications, but the act itself was still merely one sin. Whereas Christ's act stepped into the flood of many sins.
