On his website, Arminian Perspectives, Ben Henshaw has a questions page at which he answers questions about Arminianism and Calvinism that visitors to his site pose in the comment section of the page. Here is a question from a man named Gary followed by Ben Henshaw’s concise answer (we have much longer answers to this question on our website [see, for just one example, this article by Ben], but there is also a value to simple, concise answers as well):
Question: I’m looking for some information on how to deal with the limited atonement argument that if Jesus paid the penalty for all, then people sent to hell would be paying the penalty a second time.
Answer: Free will Baptist F. Leroy Forlines treats this topic very well in his book The Quest for Truth. You can get an edited version of the book that contains only the subject matter on the Arminian and Calvinist debate called Classical Arminianism, edited by Matthew Pinson.
The basic idea is that the benefits of the atonement are only ours when we are joined to Christ. Until that time, they are only provisional in Him. Until we are joined to Christ in faith there is no payment credited to our account. Only when we are joined to Him is payment for sin credited to our account. Therefore, there is no double payment. The payment of atonement is provisional and conditional. It is not automatic or unconditional. It is only through identification with Christ that His death becomes our death and His payment becomes ours. It is the difference between provision and application.
