The Commercial Theory of the Atonement and "Limited Atonement"

The so-called Commercial Theory of the Atonement is based on calculation:  Christ died for the elect, which are a number of discrete persons, each with a list of sins.  If God had decided to add another person to the count of the elect, then Christ would have had to die "more," since there would have been more persons (or sins) to die for.  The idea behind this is that the moral deficit caused by sinners can be counted, and that the atoning death of Christ distinctly makes up for that deficit, count for count, or head for head.

This is not right.

God himself, in his word, has no trouble making the application of the sacrifice of Christ elastic enough to cover his expressed purposes in every scriptural context, whether it is the redemption of his people (the elect; 1 Cor 15:3), or the redemption of the whole world (2 Cor 5:18).  

It's clear from this that Christ's death is of such infinite value that describing its value in terms of counting up men's sins is absurd.  The infinite value of the death could redeem one -- or all.

It's also clear that the death is advertised with a good will from God to all who hear the gospel, as if it were offered directly and honestly to them (2 Cor 5:20).  Christ wept over the Jerusalem that rejected him (Luke 19:41).  Therefore, his death is plainly portrayed in the preaching of the gospel as offered to, and applicable to, all who hear the gospel.

Christ's death is also described in scripture as made for the benefit of his people, every one of whom he forcefully and irrevocably delivers from death and the devil, and from all the wrath of God, in order to bring all of them perfect into his fellowship (John 17, entire chapter).

Application:

When people speak of "limited atonement," we need to keep all this in mind.  The best explanation of "limited atonement," is that the atonement, among all its purposes, is definitely and primarily directed to the salvation of the elect.  The atonement is otherwise unlimited in its intrinsic value, supporting a well-meant offer from God toward anyone who hears the gospel.  This is actually the doctrine of the Reformed Confessions, and is Charles Hodge's version of orthodox "4.5" point Calvinism in the Princetonian sense.

See Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 2, p. 544-562; that is, Part III, Chapter VIII, "For Whom Did Christ Die?", for a discussion of all this from almost every imaginable angle, including amazing pronouncements, such as, "every non-elect person who believes will be saved," and "every elect (and mentally adult) person who does not believe will be lost."