In theological circles probably no other term has occupied center stage when thinking about God’s provision of salvation more than the term “atonement.” The Old Testament has numerous references to atonement. The word is encountered in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but especially in Leviticus. In Exodus for example when the people had sinned at the point of idolatry, Moses spoke to them, saying, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin” (Ex. 32:30). Later God instructed Moses to designate the 10th day of the seventh month as an annual Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:26–32).
Interestingly the term atonement does not itself appear in the original New Testament language. The closest thing to an occurrence is Romans 5:11 in the King James Version. There atonement is used at the end of this one New Testament verse to translate the normal Greek term for reconciliation. Later English versions reflect this fact by using reconciliation as the translation. Nonetheless the idea involved in speaking of salvation as atonement is present throughout Scripture. Atonement serves as a sort of theological shorthand by which to speak of all God accomplished through Christ’s sufferings, death and resurrection in order to provide His great salvation.
The heart of atonement is the saving death of Christ but not in disassociation from His perfect person, His compassionate ministry and especially His resurrection. Sometimes when we put the focus on the cross, we imply unintentionally that the saving virtue in the death of Christ was in the manner of His death. However, upon reflection we understand that how Christ died is not the saving message. Others died on crosses, most notably two robbers who died by crucifixion the same day. Prior to Christ’s death, a ruler named Alexander Jannaeus is said to have ordered the crucifixion of 800 Jewish opponents. Not an ounce of saving virtue was found in the combined deaths of all others whose lives were poured out on a cross. The difference was not in how Christ died but who He was. The atoning death of Jesus rests in Him being the perfect sacrifice, something no one else could have achieved. Thus we can say the heart of the atonement includes both the person and work of Christ.
A saving death
Discussions of salvation as atonement usually include attempts to explain how the death of Christ was a saving death. These explanations furnish us with several important concepts that lie at the heart of the atonement. One such is that of satisfaction. Sinners have broken God’s law and thus have incurred His wrath. Christ took upon Himself the wrath due human sin, thus satisfying the decree that the wages of sin is death. Another term in discussions about the atonement is substitution. The idea involved is that Christ became a substitute sacrifice in the stead of sinners, taking our place under the just punishment for our sins. Thus the gospel speaks of the righteous dying for the unrighteous that He might bring us to God (1 Pet. 3:18).
A third term associated with atonement is liberation. Becoming a ransom for sinners, Christ died to set captives free not only from sin’s condemnation but also Satan’s dominion. In the Protestant evangelical tradition, atonement is generally understood to mean that the death of Christ met the just demands of God’s law, appeased the just wrath of a holy God and freed the soul of sinners from the bondage of sin and death.
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