Gospel Guidebook: Getting and Keeping It Right 
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Particular Atonement is at the Heart of the Gospel
by Robert P. TerryUpdated January 8, 2025
"I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." (Galatians 2:20)
The doctrine of particular atonement (also known as limited atonement or definite atonement) is at the heart of the Gospel. It describes how God had a people whom he foreknew and how He wanted to show His immense love for them by suffering for them and saving them even when they were estranged from him and at enmity with Him. It is the reason why saving faith can be no more than a persuasion that the bare work of Christ is true, namely that Christ was obedient unto death and died for sinners, accomplishing for them a divine righteousness as their all-sufficient substitute. Christ's work did not make them savable, but actually saved them, and because He saved them, He sends forth His word to proclaim glad tidings to them, ensuring that they hear it and believe it, thereby enabling them to recognize that "the Son of God loved me and delivered Himself up for me."