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A Primer on Atonement
Various Views or Theories of the Atonement
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Governmental: God has shown how seriously He hates sin by punishing His Son.
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Moral influence: God has shown how much He loves us by sacrificing His Son.
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Example: The life of Jesus should inspire us to live like he did, even to the extent of dying for what we believe.
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Ransom: The Father paid Satan by Christ’s death so that Satan would release his control of mankind.
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Dramatic: Christ, by conquering death, conquered Satan and his forces and freed us from them.
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Penal Substitutionary: Christ’s death satisfied God’s requirement for our death in our place.
Assumptions of each view
Governmental, Moral influence and Example views: humans are capable of keeping God’s laws given the proper incentive
Ransom and Dramatic views: the only thing keeping humans from obeying God’s laws is Satan’s influence in our lives
Penal substitutionary view: unless Christ does for us what we cannot do for ourselves (live perfect lives, pay for our own sin) we cannot be saved (not only is Satan influencing us to follow him, but our own wills are bound up and cannot keep God’s laws)
The Motive For the Atonement
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John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…”
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Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love toward us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
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Ephesians 1:4-7, “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ….In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
- “The love of God from which the atonement springs is not a distinctionless love; it is a love that elects and predestinates.”
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The atonement does not win or constrain the love of God. The love of God constrains or requires the atonement as the means of accomplishing love’s determinate purpose.”
(John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied)
The Necessity of the Atonement
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Hypothetical Necessity View: God could have forgiven sin and saved his elect without atonement or satisfaction – other means were available, but this way demonstrated his grace and has the greatest number of advantages. Without shedding of blood there is no remission, but only because God determined to do it that way. Nothing in his nature or in the nature of remitting sins required Christ’s sacrifice.
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Consequent Absolute Necessity View: To save lost people was not required of God, but having graciously determined to save people, the only way to save us was through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.
- Hebrews 2:10,17, “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God…should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering….For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”
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Hebrews 9:9-14, 22-28, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
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Romans 3:23-26, if God could not demonstrate his righteousness and still forgive sins without reference to Christ’s sacrifice, then there seems to be a necessity for forgiveness to be purchased this way, through the atoning death of Jesus.
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Romans 5:8, how could this be the supreme demonstration of God’s love if there were no necessity for such a costly sacrifice?
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No other religion on earth requires an atoning sacrifice like this in order to acquire forgiveness of sins.
Terminology of the Atonement
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Sacrifice: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29); Hebrews 9:26.
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Hebrews 8:5 says the sacrificial system of the Old Testament was a shadow or copy of the heavenly sanctuary. Jesus’ anticipated sacrifice was the reason God gave Israel a sacrificial system to learn about sacrifice.
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Sacrifice was designed to satisfy the just demands of God for a payment in substitution for one’s sin. The offerer laid his hands on the unblemished sacrifice to transfer his guilt to the sacrifice.
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Jesus’ sacrifice really did remove sin and provided eternal forgiveness.
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Propitiation: “God presented him as a propitiation [NIV, sacrifice of atonement], through faith in his blood.” (Romans 3:25; see also Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10). The Greek term, hilasmos, translates a Hebrew word meaning “covering,” the idea being that when we sin against God we need a covering from his wrath. The word comes to mean placating or appeasing the wrath of God by means of an atoning sacrifice. Only sacrifice accomplished that in the Mosaic system and only Jesus’ sacrifice could do it for real.
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Reconciliation: “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son…” (Romans 5:10).
- Propitiation focuses on the wrath of God and his provision for removing that wrath. Reconciliation focuses on our alienation from God and his desire to restore us to his favor. Our iniquities have separated us from God (Isa. 59:2) but his love desires to restore the closeness he created us for.
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Redemption: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
- Redemption does not just mean “deliverance” without reference to the means of deliverance (that is, substitutionary sacrifice which pays the price for release), as Jesus’ remarks in Mark demonstrate (see also 1 Pet. 1:18,19).
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Heb.2:14,15 and other passages make it clear that redemption also frees us from the snare of the devil.
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There is a future aspect to redemption (Lk. 21:28; Rom. 8:23; Eph. 4:30).
About the Author Randall Johnson
A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.
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The Mountains of God: Golgotha
The Mountains of God: Sinai
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1 Peter 3:18-22, Christ Our Example in Suffering for Righteousness
1 Peter 2:18-25, Conduct of Slaves
Sermon on Jesus Last Words on the Cross: I Thirst
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