Cap 11 - STUDIES

THE ATONEMENT

SECTION IV

THE ATONEMENT PURCHASED

Up to this point in our study, we have dealt with the Atonement from a point in time removed from the actual accomplishment of this great work, but now we come to consider the actual fulfillment of all the purposes, promises and prefigurements of it down through time. The actual accomplishment of the Atonement was exactly on time according to the Divine program, for we often find, in the early life and ministry of Jesus, the words "His hour was not yet come," but as the final Passover in His earthly life drew near, we are told: "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father..." (John 13:1). And again, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Gal. 4:4-5).

The "fullness of time" means more than that the ordained hour had arrived: it signified when all the preliminary operations of Divine providence had been completed, when the stage was thoroughly prepared for this unparalleled event, when the world’s need had been fully demonstrated. The advent of God’s Son to this earth was no isolated event, but the climax of a lengthy preparation. That He was now "made of a woman" was the fulfillment of the Divine announcement in Genesis 3:15 and Isaiah 7:14. That He was "made under the Law" which His people had broken is what supplies the key to that which is otherwise an inexplicable mystery, in fact, throws a flood of light upon the experiences through which He passed from Bethlehem to Calvary. —A. W. Pink, The Doctrine Of Reconciliation, p. 57. Associated Publishers And Authors, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1971.Thus being "in the fullness of time," the redemptive work of Christ had many centuries of preparation and instruction of people to make them understand what all was involved when John said: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29); or what Jesus Himself meant when He said: "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). The word "ransom" alone would provoke many deep thoughts in the mind of the thoughtful Jew. R. W. Dale pointedly says: To a Jew a ransom was the money which a man paid to recover possession of his inheritance when he had parted with it (Lev. 25:25-27); it was the price he paid when he purchased the freedom of any that was "nigh of kin to him" who had become a slave to a stranger (Lev. 25:47-49); it was what he gave in exchange for the life of the first-born of an unclean animal which he wanted to keep, and which the law required him either to redeem or to destroy (Num. 18:15; Ex. 13:13; 34:20; it was the five shekels which he had to pay for the life of his first-born child, Num. 18:16); it was the half shekel which every man over twenty years of age had to pay at the census, to avert Divine judgments—"atonement money"—a price which every man paid for his life (Ex. 30:12,13,16); it was the money which the parent, wife, child, or brother of a man who had been killed by an ox, known to be vicious or dangerous, claimed from the owner, and on the payment of which the owner was permitted to live (Ex. 21:29-30). —The Atonement, pp. 76-77. Congregational Union of England and Wales, London, 1896.Much of the Old Testament looked forward, in prophecy and type to the person and work of Christ, and found its perfect fulfillment only in Him; the book of Hebrews, being a divine commentary on the Tabernacle and its services and sacrifices, shows how much of the Old Testament was preparatory and prefigurative of what was to come. Many in Christ’s day would not accept this truth, and many today see Old Testament and New Testament worship as two wholly unrelated systems of religion. It is not our purpose to go over the ground again, that was covered in the last section, and therefore we pass on to note the fulfillment of these things by the Lord Jesus Christ, noting—

I. THE ATONEMENT WAS PURCHASED BY CHRIST.

Christ’s mediatorship is based upon this fact, for it is written: "But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises" (Heb. 8:6, R.V.). "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance" (Heb. 9:14-15, R.V.).

It was not enough for Christ to come and to live an exemplary life on earth; this could never have redeemed anyone, but His present mediatorship in heaven is based upon His having shed his blood for the redemption of the sins committed by those who were under the old works covenant; in no other way could they be made partakers of the better promises. He was conscious of the necessity of this from the beginning, for He came to give His life "a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Many texts speak of Jesus’ vicarious—substitutionary—suffering and death in the place of sinners, and thereby show that He accomplished this atonement; the words "redeem," "redemption" and "ransom" are often used to show the commercial aspect of this, that it was a purchased atonement that He wrought.

Jesus’ office as the shepherd of the flock also emphasizes His atoning work, for it is written: "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep...As the Father knoweth me even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep...No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (John 10:11,15,18). His atoning work is accomplished as a substitute for the elect, for He laid down His life "for" the sheep. The Greek word here translated "for" (huper), like the English word, has a two-fold signification; it may mean either "for the benefit of," or it may mean "in the place of;" the context must determine which of the two is the intended meaning. In this case, both of these meanings apply, for Christ died in our place, and by His enduring the cross, He obtained the great blessing of atonement for us. But it must never be forgotten that He accomplished this atonement, not while under any kind of constraint, but while acting freely and willingly; otherwise the atonement would have had no value for man, and would have actually been an injustice upon Christ. It was for this reason that Christ placed Himself under the law and perfectly kept it before going voluntarily to the cross.

In order to Christ’s being held responsible to the law, for the accomplishment of his atoning work, it was necessary that he should freely and voluntarily place himself under its authority, in such a manner that its claims should, without any arbitrary construction, but spontaneously and of right, come upon him; so that, not only should justice be entitled to make demand of him, but be bound to accept satisfaction at his hand. That Christ, even as to his mediatorial humanity, was not bound under the law, by any natural necessity, we have already seen. The absolute necessity of spontaneity in his sufferings is abundantly demonstrable. —Samuel Baird, The Elohim Revealed, p. 605. Lindsay and Blakiston, Philadelphia, 1860.By His extraordinary life and death, Christ accomplished what could not be conceived in the mind of man much less accomplished by him; the atonement is a divine enterprise from start to finish. Alexander Carson well says: Many a scheme of righteousness has been devised by man, but the atonement of Christ is God’s plan of righteousness. All the schemes of righteousness invented by man are founded on law, but God’s scheme of righteousness is without law. Though it satisfies the law, yet the law contains no provision for it. It is altogether beyond the law. The substitution of Christ as a sacrifice, while it honors the law, is a sovereign constitution of the great lawgiver...God’s people are justified, not by their own innocence, or their own works, but freely by his favor. This favor, though it comes freely to them, yet comes through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. —The Doctrine of the Atonement, pp. 74, 75. Edward H. Fletcher, New York, 1853.This was Christ’s primary purpose for coming to the earth, suffering and being crucified, and any view that places anything else as the primary goal of His incarnation, is an inadequate view of it. Granted, He healed great multitudes, and taught marvelous truths to the people, and He revealed a loving Father, but all these were incidental to His coming, the primary purpose of which was to reconcile an alienated people to God. Several texts of Scripture speak specifically of Jesus as a reconciling sacrifice: (Rom, 5:10.11; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20-22), while others speak of Him as a propitiatory sacrifice: (Rom, 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). And many, many others speak of Him as being a sacrifice for sin, of Him dying for us, of Him suffering for sin, etc.

This atoning work of Christ was accomplished Godward as well as manward; that is to say, God was reconciled to man, as well as man being reconciled to God. Socinians and Arminians hold that inasmuch as man is the one that sinned and went astray, he alone needs to be reconciled to God. Some otherwise sound Bible commentators have been likewise led astray on this point because they have feared that to hold that God was reconciled to man by Christ’s work might imply a change in God. C. H. Mackintosh and the Plymouth Brethren generally hold to this, as well as many others. It is true that, so far as His elect are concerned, God has loved them with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3), yet, at the same time it must be recognized that governmentally He must declare His aversion to sin in whomsoever it is found, and so even the elect must be declared to be under His wrath until they are actually reconciled to Him; to preserve the justice of God, the atonement must be Godward as well as manward. J. M. Pendleton says:

All theories which teach that the aspects of Christ’s atonement are manward and not Godward virtually deny the justice and holiness of God. The correct view is that the atonement has reference both to God and man. Its saving influences reach man, because its propitiatory merit first reaches the throne of God. It is idle, therefore, to talk of what the atonement can do for man, unless it does something for the government of God. This is so obvious, that those who say that the death of Christ does not affect the divine administration toward men, but only affects men toward the divine administration, usually deny that his death was, in any proper sense of the words, a vicarious sacrifice. Not believing that the God of justice needed to be propitiated so as to turn away his holy wrath from the guilty, they cannot believe that Jesus died as an atoning substitute for sinners. If they use at all such words as propitiation, expiation, substitution, it is to be feared that many of them do so to "deceive the simple." To say that no influences emanate from the cross Godward is equivalent to a denial of all expiatory value in the sufferings of Christ. —Christian Doctrines, pp. 233-234. American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1878.It is to be granted that the Scriptures never speak of God being reconciled to man, yet there are so many Scriptures which speak of a satisfaction being rendered to God for man’s sin: "Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation (or literally "a propitiation") for the sins of the people" (Heb. 2:17). "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himselfwithoutspot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14). "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12). "Christ hath loved us and hath given himselffor usan offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor" (Eph. 5:2).

Not only so, but the fact of Jesus being a mediator is evidence of the same thing, for "a mediator is not a mediator of one" (Gal. 3:20), but of two. If all that had been necessary was the reconciling of man to God, then a mediator would not have been necessary, for only a messenger could have accomplished the matter by telling man that there had never been a disruption of his fellowship with God, and that all that was needful was for him to return to God. Jesus being the mediator of a new covenant (Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24), is evidence that the atonement was both Godward and manward.

II. THE ATONEMENT WAS PURCHASED BY CHRIST ON THE CROSS.

It was not possible for Christ to redeem man by His marvelous teachings, nor by His unparalleled life, nor even by being a martyr to the truth; all of these entered into His sacrificial death, yet any or all of them together apart from the cross-work of Christ would have availed nothing toward reconciling man to God. He had to bear the suffering and the curse of the cross to accomplish an atonement that would do man any good.

We must, in the beginning of this section clarify a matter that has been a cause of deception and stumbling to many. When speaking of "the cross" we generally do not have reference to the material cross itself, but rather use this as a metonymy—i.e., a figure of speech where the name of one thing is used for that which is suggested by, or associated with it. Thus, by "cross" is meant the atoning work of Christ which was accomplished upon the cross. Had men always recognized that this is what is meant by the many references to the cross in the New Testament, there would never have arisen the disgusting and impious superstition of the wearing of material crosses, the bowing down to and praying to material crosses, and the taking of a material cross for a Christian symbol. Only rarely in the New Testament does this word have reference to a material cross; almost always it refers rather to the atoning work of Christ that was accomplished upon the cross of Calvary.

The cross was foreordained as the instrument of Christ’s death from the very beginning, for God had commanded: "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God:)" (Deut. 21:22-23). And the fulfillment of this prophecy is declared in Galatians 3:13: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Thus one of the chief parts of the atonement was Christ’s taking of our place and bearing our curse, for it would not have been our place had we not been sinners "worthy of death" (Deut. 21:23).

Christ’s great act of condescension in going to the cross is described in Philippians 2:6-8: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Here again is emphasized the fact that this was the chief purpose of Christ’s coming to the earth—to accomplish an atonement that would reconcile God and man to one another. His death upon the cross was both an act of obedience to the Father, as well as a redemptive act so far as man was concerned, and it brought about a peace where only enmity had existed before: "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight:" (Col. 1:20-22).

It is an amazing thing that such a gracious atonement as this should be so bitterly resented and misrepresented, yet this is done generally by those who take confidence in their own works, and who look upon those less moral and religious than themselves as hopeless cases. To all practical purposes they reject Christ’s redemptive work, often by objecting that such a gracious plan of salvation would be, in effect, an advocating of sin. Paul had to meet this same objection in his day, for there were then those who objected that grace encouraged men to sin (see Rom. 3:8). Some had said that if where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, then men should sin more that grace might abound more (Rom. 6:1). Such is the reasoning of men who think they are sufficient within themselves without Christ’s atoning work. To them, the cross-work of Christ is not as valuable as their own works.

The importance of the work of Christ upon the cross is to be seen in that it procured remission of sins for many, as Jesus said at the institution of the Memorial Supper: "And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:27-28).

He declared, indeed, that it was for the remission of sins that He was about to die. Other ends might be accomplished by His Death, but at a time when we might reasonably suppose that His mind would be filled with the chief and direct objects of His Passion, this is the only one of which He speaks. His blood was shed "for the remission of sins." —R. W. Dale, The Atonement, p. 69. Congregational Union of England and Wales, London, 1896.The death, then, that He died upon the cross was an unique death; one such as no one ever died before. He died an innocent victim, yet bearing the sins of many; He died voluntarily, yet constrained by love; He died upon the cross, yet even as His life-blood ebbed away, He was omnipotent, having the keys of death and Hades. Truly, here was the paradox of paradoxes: the Creator being put to death by His creation, yet it was an integral part of God’s plan, and necessary to the redemption of man.

Jesus’ death upon the cross was as a propitiatory sacrifice, as it is written: "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Rom. 3:25). "Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Heb. 2:17, R.V.). "And he is the propitiationforour sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiationforour sins" (1 John 4:10).

The word propitiation signifies a means of rendering favorable. We have already seen that Christ’s death did not purchase God’s love for us. It did not convert hate into its opposite. But Christ’s death was a means of rendering God favorable in that God can now bestow upon the race the riches of his grace in Christ because Christ is now one with the race. In his death Christ became forever identified with men, and in principle all the fullness that dwelt in Christ belongs to mankind ...Thus his atonement was a means not of making God love us, but of making the free exercise of his love possible and consistent with his own inherent antagonism to sin. —E. Y. Mullins, The Christian Religion in Its Doctrinal Expression, p. 324. Judson Press, Philadelphia, 1932.III. THE ATONEMENT WAS PURCHASED COMPLETELY BY CHRIST.

The redemptive work of Christ was not a half-way measure; what He set out to do, He accomplished, and He was possessed of Divine wisdom in the fulfilling of this plan, so that there was nothing wanting when this transaction was completed. Many people say that the atonement of Christ "made salvation possible," but that man now must contribute his part in order for the transaction to be complete and he to have the assurance of salvation. The atonement, however, is not an abstract provision for sinners generally; its completeness is based upon the certain application of its benefits to specifically chosen objects of God’s mercy. After referring to Isaiah 53:8; Matthew 1:21; 20:28; John 10:11; Ephesians 5:25; Titus 2:14; and Hebrews 2:17, A. W. Pink says:

Here are seven passages which gave a clear and simple answer to our question, and their testimony, both singly and collectively, declare plainly that the death of Christ was not an atonement for sin abstractedly, nor a mere expression of Divine displeasure against iniquity, nor an indefinite satisfaction of Divine justice, but instead, a ransom-price paid for the eternal redemption of a certain number of sinners, and a plenary satisfaction for their particular sins. It is the glory of redemption that it does not merely render God placable and man pardonable, but that it has reconciled sinners to God, put away their sins, and forever perfected His set apart ones. —Exposition of the Gospel of John, Vol. II, pp. 221-222. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1968.We have but to consider all of the texts that deal with the atonement to find that the transaction was the Lord’s alone; man contributed only sin. He "gave His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28); He "lay down His life for the sheep" (John 10:15); He "died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5:6); He "gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20); He was "made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13); He "gave Himself a ransom for us all" (1 Tim. 2:6); He "suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Pet. 3:18); "He laid down His life for us" (1 John 3:16), etc.

That Christ was alone in this great transaction is obvious when we consider that all of the elect of the first four thousand years of the world’s history had already passed off the scene when Christ went to the cross, and all of the elect of the next two thousand years had not yet been born when this took place, so that if man had any part in this atonement, it could only have been those who were then living. Yet, only a bare handful of those who professed to be Jesus’ followers stood about the cross as Jesus died, and most of these were women. Clearly, Jesus was alone in this great transaction, and man contributed nothing but the sins that crucified the Lord.

"0, but man must accept these benefits of the atonement; he must believe in Christ’s redemptive work," someone will say. We believe that it is more scriptural to say that man will believe in Christ when the atoning work has been applied to him, for it is the Holy Spirit who applies these benefits to man, and the application of these are above human consciousness, and his first act after this will be to cry out in faith unto the Lord. The application of Christ’s atoning work to an individual is contemporaneous with his being born again, and this is shown in the literal rendering of 1 John 5:1 to be prior to faith: "Whoever believes (present participle) that Jesus is the Christ has been born (perfect indicative passive, which indicates a past fact with consequences continuing to the present) of God," King James II Version. The same thing is true of the tenses of "believe" and "born" in John 1:12-13: the first is present tense, but the second is past tense.

Faith itself is the gift of God, as many texts tell us, and it is a consequence of the new birth, and not the cause of it, so that again it is obvious that man has no part in accomplishing nor in applying the atonement of Christ. This is hard on man’s natural pride and vanity, which explains why this is such a hard truth to receive, yet only by receiving it can man render unto God the glory which is His rightful due. See Chapter Nine, on Faith.

But the redemptive work of Christ is complete also in the sense that it is eternally efficacious for it is written: "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Heb. 10:14). By this is not meant that saved people are instantaneously made sinlessly perfect, but rather it deals with the completeness of the atonement, which will eventuate in such a perfection as soon as their sanctification is completed. One of the things that men of the world find so hard to understand, is that when one is saved, he is given a new nature which no longer desires to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, and under the progressive sanctification of the Spirit, he will more and more triumph over the flesh, and will, upon the reception of the new body, be completely sanctified and sin will have no more place in him, nor power over him. It is not a matter of "doing anything he wants to" after he is saved; when one comes under the redemptive work of Christ, his nature is changed, and so is his "want to." E. Y. Mullins says of Christ:

He is the Creator of the human race. When in atonement he assumes its responsibility, it is a part of the original responsibility involved in his creative act. Again, it is not simply a case of letting "criminals go free." Those who are set free through Christ are no longer criminals. He changes them into saints of God. He sustains a causal relation to their moral and spiritual life. He recreates them morally. In a word, Christ’s historic act on the cross is also the beginning of a vital spiritual process in human hearts. —The Christian Religion In Its Doctrinal Expression, p. 335. Judson Press, Philadelphia, 1932.One of the declarations of the completeness of Christ’s atoning work is found in Hebrews 7:25: "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." The sacrifice of Christ was indeed finished on the cross, but the mediation of it continues in heaven, so that He does not half-save one of His elect only to see him ultimately be lost, but He saves them to the uttermost. Thus, the atonement of Christ guarantees the eternal security of the saved, and any view of the atonement which does not see this, is an inadequate view of Christ’s work. The very fact of Christ’s continuing intercession for the believer makes it impossible that he could ever come again into a state of alienation from God. He can never be as sinful and rebellious as he was when Christ saved Him, and if Christ saved him when at the height of his sinfulness, surely He can continue to keep him saved.

The completeness of Christ’s atoning work is also to be seen in its sufficiency for any man, in any circumstance; man’s plans of salvation necessitate good works done over a long period of time, but Christ’s atonement is sufficient even for the man upon his death-bed, for it is based wholly upon God’s grace, completely apart from any consideration of worth or merit on man’s part; this is why the natural man has such an aversion to the atonement of Christ; it robs him of any glory for his salvation. Alexander Carson observes:

But the glory of the atonement shines still more illustriously in its efficacy to save sinners, at the very point of death, from the very gates of hell. Worldly systems of religion can give no hope to sinners grown old in wickedness; but the gospel speaks to the soul, hovering, as it were, on the lips of the dying sinner. Philosophy can give no comfort to the pillow of the dying man, without long-formed habits of virtue; and without time for good works to give efficacy to repentance, worldly religion dare not speak with any confidence to the dying sinner. But with the utmost confidence the gospel calls to the departing spirit to look to Jesus on the cross and be saved. This doctrine casts the utmost discredit on the pretensions of philosophic virtue, and is, therefore, abhorred by every man who thinks that future happiness must be the reward of a course of difficult and self-denying discipline. This view coincides with none of the systems of human wisdom, which make future happiness the issue of a virtuous life, according to the fitness, nature, or reason of things. It is no less displeasing to the austere religionist, who has laid up vast treasures for his salvation from his early or long-formed religious habits, his piety, his mortifications. —The Doctrine of the Atonement, pp. 119-120. Edward H. Fletcher, New York, 1853.When these things are considered, it is not to be wondered at that this all-sufficient, all-gracious atonement is disliked and rejected by the vast majority of the religious world. It removes all reason for pride and glory from man, and puts it wholly upon Christ alone, where it belongs. The great song of redemption that is sung by the glorified saints reveals that it is Christ alone who is worthy of the glory of man’s redemption: "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:9-10).

 

By Davis W. Huckabee, Pastor,
Heritage Baptist Church,
Salem, Ohio, 44460
Source: www.obreiroaprovado.com

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