Christianity, Salvation & The Atonement

[Originally an Essay from April 2020's Defender Times]

    The doctrine of the atonement is something that I believe has been often overlooked when discussing the issue of the doctrine of salvation regarding Christianity. In fact, it is so important to Christianity and the doctrine of salvation that if this didn’t happen, then we wouldn’t be able to be able to go to Heaven. In 1 Corinthians 15:3, we read the following: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.” If indeed Christ died for our sins, why did this need to be the case? What does it mean for this act to be “in accordance with the Scriptures” as it reads in the text? We must analyze these points and ask questions to be able to understand the doctrine.

    To begin, we shall define what the word Atonement means. According to one dictionary, Atonement is defined as follows:

“Biblical doctrine that God has reconciled sinners to Himself through the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ. The concept of atonement spans both Testaments, everywhere pointing to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for the sins of the world” (Moore, Russell D. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Edited by Chad Brand et al., [Holman Reference, 2015], p. 144).

    So the doctrine is able to be found in both the Old and New Testament according to Russell Moore. This is important since it fits with that phrase we read earlier, “in accordance with the scriptures.” This phrase means that the doctrine of Christ dying on the cross was something we could find in the Old Testament. But why would this matter? Is it merely just a prophecy or is it relating to something important about a future event to come? Old Testament passages that speak on atonement are numerous in the fact that they merely reference atoning through sacrificing animals (Exodus 29:36, 30:12-16; Leviticus 1:4, 4:20, 22-35, 5:6-10, 6:7, 9:7, 10:17, etc.). Now I could’ve attempted to add more, but I don’t want to fully add too much to the essay regarding the evidence. However, the only important note I will add is an incident predating Moses and the Mosaic Law.

    In Genesis 22, we read of the story that some bible translations will dub as “The Sacrifice of Isaac.” This account begins with God commanding Abraham to “take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” in verse 2. In the next verse, we read of Abraham waking up with his son to “cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.” After they traveled to the spot, they would place the wood where it needed to be. However, Isaac then says in verse 7, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” So what does Abraham do? Verse 8 is where Abraham says “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” While Abraham would lay Isaac on the altar to sacrifice him in order to obey God, the Lord stops Abraham before he could do it and says “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Then verse 13 reads that there was a ram given to sacrifice instead.

    John Gill comments on this by stating that the ram “was a type of our Lord Jesus, who was foreordained of God before the foundation of the world, and came into the world in an uncommon way, being born of a virgin, and that in the fulness of time, and seasonably, and in due time died for the sins of men. The ram has its name from "strength", in the Hebrew language, and was an emblem of a great personage, Da 8:3; and may denote the strength and dignity of Christ as a divine Person; being caught in a thicket, may be an emblem of the decrees of God, in which he was appointed to be the Saviour...” (John Gill’s Expository Commentary, Genesis 22:13).

    So while we have a good picture in the Old Testament about what the concept of the atonement is, we need to go further and look deeper into the New Testament to see how this is then applied. The Princeton seminary theologian, B. B. Warfield, once said that regarding the atonement of Christ that when “we look to the Levitical system or to the conceptions current at the time when the New Testament was written as determining the sense of the writers of the New Testament when they spoke of Christ as a sacrifice, the most natural meaning that can be attached to the term on their lips is that of an expiatory offering propitiating God's favor and reconciling Him to guilty man” (The Princeton Theological Review, v. xv, 1917, pp. 385-422).

    This is why the next set of research will dive into New Testament texts to discover the truth and importance. If you have heard street preachers or sermons quote from Romans, then you have heard “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” from Romans 3:23. Then you hear a follow up sometimes that reads from Romans 6:23 where it says “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So why is it possible for Jesus to be who we can receive the gift of eternal life through? I mean this is repeated in John 3:16 when it says “for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We see this New Testament language of salvation through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Why though?

    The Gospels reveal how Jesus was seen to be as the atoning sacrifice. John 1:29 shows John The Baptist  saying “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” So Jesus so far is described as the “Lamb of God” and somebody who takes “away the sin of the world.” These two phrases are very strong terms. Referring to the Lamb of God, John Gill comments saying that the phrase means “with respect to the lambs that were offered in sacrifice, under the legal dispensation; and that either to the passover lamb, or rather to the lambs of the daily sacrifice, that were offered morning and evening.” How does he “taketh away the sin of the world” you may possibly ask? While John’s Gospel does not contain it, you can find in all three gospel accounts (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24 and Luke 22:20) that at the Last Supper, he shows a cup filled with red wine and says “this is my blood of the new testament [new covenant]” (brackets are mine).

    Jesus clearly makes reference to his blood which Matthew has the phrase “which is shed for many for the remission of sins” that follows afterwards. Mark’s gospel says “which is shed for many” instead of what Matthew says and Luke says “which is shed for you” in his Gospel.

    So far we see that the gospels give us an interesting depiction of Jesus viewing himself as the atonining sacrifice for sins in light of the Old Testament understanding. Commenting on the gospels usage, Richard L. Mayhue says the following:

    “While the OT revealed the shadow, the Gospels unveil the substance of penal substitution in Christ’s atonement. Three specifically clear texts teach this truth. First, Christ’s words from the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46; cf. Ps 22:1). Second, in the Upper Room Christ taught that the bread symbolically pictured “My body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19). And third, Jesus also taught that the grape juice symbolically represented “My blood of the covenant...shed on behalf of many” (Mark 14:24). None of these three statements by Christ make any sense outside of the context of penal substitution’” (Mayhue, R. L. (2009). The Scriptural Necessity of Christ's Penal Substitution. The Master’s Seminary Journal, 20(2), p. 144).

    Then we must ask ourselves about the post crucifixion events and whether or not Jesus’ death on the cross was viewed as the atoning sacrifice. Russell Moore comments by saying “The apostles and NT writers spoke of Jesus’ atonement as absorbing the wrath of God due to sinners. They described Jesus’ death a propitiation that turns aside the wrath of God (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 4:7). The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that Jesus was counted as a sinner in order that sinners might be counted as righteous in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus bore the curse of the law in order to bring the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant to the Gentiles (Gal. 3:10-14). Peter similarly spoke of Jesus bearing sins “in His body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24 HCSB)” (Moore, Russell D. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Edited by Chad Brand et al., [Holman Reference, 2015], p. 145).

    Jesus’ crucifixion was not just a mere event of a mere man’s death, but instead it was the act of something to come. From what we know of Jesus’ crucifixion and his own words at the Last Supper, we then read the messianic prophecy which reads “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:4-7 KJV). Jesus certainly constitutes a fulfillment of this prophecy of people having their sins “wounded” or “bruised” for. 

    So we have gone over several, though I admit it’s not exhaustive, reasons for the affirmation of the atonement of Christ being talked about in the scriptures. But now we come to what I said earlier about how “it is so important to Christianity and the doctrine of salvation that if this didn’t happen, then we wouldn’t be able to be able to go to Heaven.” Why is it that important? Remember the bible said we are all sinners who sinned and thus deserve the wrath of God in the form of “death” (Romans 3:23 & 6:23). But because we cannot pay off our sin debt or cleanse ourselves of our own sins with good works since “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”, then we need something besides ourselves to redeem us. This is done through the work of Christ to pay off the sin debt as Paul says in Colossians 2:13-14 when it reads “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”

    So in conclusion, this is important when it comes to the gospel since we need to know the bad news. The bad news is that we are sinners who deserves God’s wrath. The good news is that Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for sinners like you and me. You need to repent and believe in order that you be saved. While the price has been paid for, the bible commands things like “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3) and “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). So I suggest that anybody who is reading this and considering Christianity to do just that and recognize the importance of your position before God if you are in unbelief.

    However, to the Christian reader I write the following: Recognize and understand the importance of this doctrine. It is by knowing the atonement of Christ that we can know how it is that humanity is able to be redeemed in the first place. It is by the atonement that a sinner who has broken God’s law is able to be reconciled and viewed as righteous before a holy and just God. This is the truth that scripture testifies to and in that truth is where I stand as the foundation of my belief in Jesus Christ as not just my Lord, but also my savior. Amen.