The Necessity Of The Atonement Religion Essay

In appraising the theological field of Christianity sing the expiating work of Christ, one is made cognizant of the range of theories ascribed to it. Many of these theories can be attributed to heresy and justly denied with a simple cursory expression within the pages of Scripture. However, where such thoughts can be dismissed, there remain two point of views readily opposed to one another in the extent of the expiation which dominates the landscape beyond any national boundary line. Because of these two opposing political orientations, one must take a measure back in order to confirm the basis in puting the foundation which leads to said point of views. Making so would assist in obtaining a right apprehension to be able to convey away more lucidity to a sometimes nebulose argument. As such, the demand or necessity of the expiation must be addressed in inquiring why Christ had to decease for adult male ‘s wickedness. The reply to this will in bend lend itself in finding the nature of the expiation, which looks at what Christ accomplished on the cross that makes redemption possible. The summing up of these will direct the class to what the extent of the expiation asserts, possibly the major Southern Cross or word picture within the Protestant church. Indeed, “ [ T ] here are few philosophies which have received such a broad and varicolored reading as the extent of the expiation, ”[ 1 ]to the point that it “ becomes so burdened with abstruse nomenclature that it can be absolutely unintelligible, even to those who apparently promulgate its virtuousnesss. ”[ 2 ]

The Necessity of the Atonement

The necessity or demand of the atonement ballad in a double fact: The sanctity of God and the wickedness of adult male.[ 3 ]One can non understand the demand of the atonement apart from these two pieces identified and explained. The relationship of God and adult male affected by wickedness is a status unreconcilable. Holiness can hold no portion of wickedness in any manner. Holiness is the primary property of God. Though God has many properties, sanctity is the yarn throughout them all. He is holy. But what does that intend? The root Hebrew word is qodesh agencies to cut and divide, set apart and do distinct.[ 4 ]God is over and beyond all of His creative activity and wholly distinguishable from every created thing. The difference between God and all of His created things are non merely quantitative, being the same, yet greater, but besides qualitative, where God is a wholly different being. He is morally pure, without discoloration, topographic point, or defect. He ‘s non merely good but morally perfect. As such He ‘s separated from all things that are n’t. God ca n’t digest wickedness or even a individual wickedness. The sum of wickedness that it took to cuss the Earth totaled all of one. He has no tolerance for what opposes or contradicts His nature. And non merely morally pure, He ‘s besides non common, ordinary, or insouciant. He ‘s distinguishable, non like us. He ‘s God. He ‘s holy. Jonathon Edwards regarded sanctity as “ more than a mere property of God-it is the amount of all His properties, the outshining of all that God is. ”[ 5 ]The Puritan Stephen Charnock wrote, “ When God would be drawn-as much as He can be-He is drawn in this property of sanctity. ”[ 6 ]

Sin can be “ expressed by the human divergence from the expressed will and want of God ” ,[ 7 ]that “ involves a status in which the bosom is corrupted and inclined toward evil. “[ 8 ]

However, the job which wickedness creates is more than a mere struggle between good and evil in human behavior ; it involves the measureless and timeless issues in the struggle between that sanctity which is the substance of God ‘s character and all that is opposed to it.[ 9 ]As such, the wickedness of adult male dissects into certain distinguishable countries of abrasion. In one respect, wickedness causes God to go common and docile which makes His word merely rules to populate by, and His Gospel merely a credo. A low position of God is idolatry and wickedness of the greatest magnitude. Even more so, holding positions other than the highest come-at-able by one in a bribable organic structure, adult male is guilty of wickedness for believing a prevarication. When one believes something about God that is non true, it is sin. If God is non who He says He is, so wickedness would non be the job that it is. However, wickedness is the job it is, because God is holy and merely. In another respect, all work forces are born in wickedness, wretched and defiled and God-hating with a dark and dead bosom. No adult male seeks Him because all work forces want to be Him unto themselves. Man ‘s greatest job today is he ‘s all about himself. This indispensable job is “ a deliberate act of rebelliousness against God. ”[ 10 ]The fruit of this is non doing much of wickedness, a cardinal marker in indentifying the deficiency of the Holy Spirit in one ‘s life. When Scripture says all have fallen short of the glorification of God, it means although they knew God they did non honour him as God nor give thanks. As such, there is an infinite hole in his bosom and it can non be filled up with all of his ain ego or the universe.

Sing these two points of philosophy, the sanctity of God and the wickedness of adult male, the ensuing inquiries present itself instead pointedly. If God is merely how can he forgive the wicked? If God is holy, how can He fellowship with adult male? If God is merely He can non forgive the wicked and the justice of all the Earth must make right. The greatest job in all of Scripture is this: If God is merely He can non forgive the wicked. The nature of expiation replies this inquiry.

The Nature of the Atonement

The act that transpired on the cross was one that was non a reactionist response but instead a planned event ordained by God from the really beginning of creative activity. It was non a program B in reaction to the act of noncompliance from Adam. In its entireness from the beginning of clip, the expiation was ordained as a primary cause to uncover the Son ‘s glorification to the universe. However, there have been theories postulated sing the nature of its design and achievement, even to the point of concluding if it was a necessary title. Some inquiry the demand of the cross to fulfill God at all.

Under the pretense of such logical thinking, it is pondered, was it possible for God to forgive wickedness without the penalty merited out to His Son who took the wickedness of all people for all clip as a replacement? Is there demand for such justness to be served by God ‘s nature? One such individual whose position on the affair forms a Governmental Theory is Hugo Grotius. Such a theory “ served as a via media between the illustration theory and the position of the Reformers [ which ] taught that God forgives evildoers without necessitating an tantamount payment. ”[ 11 ]Forgiving wickedness without a payment for wickedness nullifies Malachi 3:6 which provinces, “ I do non alter. ”[ 12 ]This is of import due to the fact that throughout the entireness of Scripture, there are mentions to God ‘s wrath being satisfied through placation. Another false philosophy on the nature of the expiation is the Accident Theory, which states “ the cross was something unanticipated in the life of Christ, [ that ] Christ ‘s decease was an unexpected accident. ”[ 13 ]This theory is debunked by making nil more than reading the relevant transitions of Scripture, which includes Matt. 16:21, Luke 18:31-34, and Mark 9:30-32, where Jesus foretold his decease, wholly cognizant of the programs to take his life. One concluding theory is one that was put away by Irenaeus entitled the Recapitulation Theory. It adheres to the idea that “ Christ went through all the stages of Adam ‘s life and experience, including the experience of wickedness. In this manner, Christ was able to win wherein Adam failed. ”[ 14 ]Where this theory fails is in the kingdom of Christ ‘s decease which provided redemption as opposed to how He lived His life.

Integrating these and legion other theories into the false philosophy sphere, what can be said sing the true nature of the expiation? To be able to understand the reply provided, one must cognize the foundation of the issue. Man sinned against God through noncompliance to His bid. As such, in order to reconstruct the relationship to God, wholly and unhampered, a placation must take topographic point, non for adult male, but for God, in order to rectify the wickedness committed to recover a right standing with Him. The evildoer does is non reconciled to God through this atonement chiefly, instead God is reconciled with adult male as He is the One whose wrath must be abated. From this, the logical order of oppugning returns in inquiring what really happened on the cross that accomplished a right standing with God. What Christ did on the cross is best described through a figure of constructs and groundss go arounding around the expiation in happening the significance of his decease.

The first construct is that of permutation. Christ died in the topographic point of adult male, bearing the weight of punishment due adult male. It was a vicarious expiation in that the “ vicar stood in the topographic point and represented another. ”[ 15 ]God provided it, the Prophetss foretold it, Christ fulfilled it and faith receives and rests upon it.[ 16 ]His decease met the demands of justness of God. As Arthur Pink stated, “ Christ took the law-place of His people. ”[ 17 ]The 2nd construct is placation. In his systematic divinity work, Wayne Grudem defines this word as “ a forfeit that bears God ‘s wrath to the terminal and in so making alterations God ‘s wrath toward us into favour. ”[ 18 ]The wrath of God has been removed from those who are saved because “ it pleased the Lord to oppress Him. ”[ 19 ]Following is rapprochement. Romans 5:10-11 describes rapprochement as the remotion of the hostility of God from us when Christ died and rose once more. This was a nonreversible act described as an nonsubjective purpose of rapprochement in that while God was reconciled to adult male through the cross centuries ago, adult male is non reconciled with God in the same mode. The latter part of adult male accommodating with God is subjective rapprochement. A 4th and concluding term is salvation. This is the purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom.[ 20 ]Such a rescue from bondage must hold an geographic expedition into what adult male was delivered from. He was delivered from being held confined to transgress and the reverberations of wickedness, every bit good as Satan ‘s clasp of the whole universe in which adult male lives. These constructs would hold been all for non had Christ non been obedient to the Father. In His obeisance, there are two countries to see. The first country concerns His active obeisance in following after the bids of God. This would embrace His perfect observation of the jurisprudence in every activity and action He partook in. The 2nd country of obeisance is witnessed in the inactive observation. The entireness of Christ ‘s agonies on the cross is in relation to this facet. In add-on, one can non be had without the other. His agonies were attained by His active obeisance to the Father in traveling to the cross.

The Extent of the Atonement

There is a word picture that originated centuries ago sing the range of the expiation ‘s extent.