My apologies. I misread what you said.
I am attempting to make sense of forgiveness. If Christ paid the penalty of our sin, then God OWES us salvation -- all of us, since Christ died for the whole world.
Calvinists realize the logical problem this doctrine presents, which is why they developed the doctrine of "Limited Atonement." Granting that Christ acted as our "penal substitution," then Christ's death must be restricted to those whom God is saving, not to the entire world, as John clearly says.
The theological mistake that Calvinists make is to hold that Atonement is the same as expiation. The envision that Christ took our place on the cross, satisfying our debt to justice. Given this picture, this substitution is effective, applied, and restricted to the elect alone, everyone would be saved, even those who hate God and don't want to have anything to do with him.
But the New Testament teaches us that salvation is by Grace and that our sins are forgiven. Since forgiveness means that the offense against God that our sins inflicted is let go, then there is no need for anyone to suffer a penalty for them. Forgiveness means letting sins go, leaving them unpunished, and ignoring the offense to establish peace.
That is what Atonement really means -- At - one - ment. Doing what it takes to establish peace between enemies. As Paul says, Christ died for our reconciliation.
The death of Christ on the cross demonstrated the profound depth of human sin. Putting to death an innocent man who spoke the truth, healed the sick, and raised the dead was the most profound example of human moral failing. The Resurrection of Christ demonstrated the profound example of God's justice in that when God resurrected Christ from the dead, he demonstrated his morality and goodness and his love. No man can keep his body down.
