:::His sacrifice WAS “good enough” for all mankind, but it was only efficacious, only made FOR, the elect.:::
The two deas seem in conflict, don’t they?
The two ideas seem in conflict, don’t they?
I don't think so. One thing that leads me to think that His sacrifice was sufficient for everyone is hypothetically imagining what would happen if God decided to save one more person beyond the original plan. Would Jesus then have to do something more to cover him? Obviously not. However, since we know that His sacrifice was only efficacious for some we have to decide whether that was by plan, or is that just the way it turned out based on man's decisions. The Reformed believe that God has a fully comprehensive plan for the universe and He is executing that plan flawlessly within time. If that is true, and if God is free to decide whom He wants to be with Him in Heaven, then it MUST have been by design that the sacrifice was only intended to be efficacious for some, i.e. only FOR some.
God's plan governs to whom the sacrifice applies without regard to how powerful the sacrifice actually was.