ATONEMENT:
IS IT PAYMENT OF DEBT OR SUBSTITUTION
The
Gospel of Salvation: Part 3
It is toward the end of the Church service. The piano and organ are playing while the
choir and some of the congregation are singing “Just As I Am”. The preacher or pastor proclaims, “Believe in
the Lord Jesus and give your heart to Him.
Come down to the altar and profess your faith in Jesus”.
Is salvation really that simple? Exactly what is the criteria for believing in
Jesus? Exactly what part of Jesus is
someone supposed to profess their faith in?
Difficult questions with generally simple answers offered by some
pastors and denominations. As noted in
Part 1, the primary message of Jesus’ teachings was (and is) “repent and follow
me” (into the Kingdom of God or Heaven) because “the Kingdom of God is at hand”.
The majority of the teachings, including the parables, of
Jesus involved gaining entry or becoming a subject of the Kingdom of God (or
Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew). The
teachings of Jesus are very important because they inform us of the protocol
for following Him. However, first, we
must repent of our sins (transgressions or disobedience to the laws of God) and
then attempt not to repeat them.
Jesus’ first two commands
(proclaimed throughout the Gospels) clearly articulate the early church view of
the Gospel; that is, repent and follow me! The Gospel according to Jesus is
turn from your sins and follow Him. Turn from the world, the kingdom of darkness,
sin, selfishness, hatred, and submit to the lordship of Christ, the Kingdom of God,
righteousness, holiness, obedience, and love. This is the true Gospel. Marc
Carrier: The Gospel According to Jesus
The Atonement
of God through Jesus
The suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus is
extremely important but it is not the only aspect of His life that believers
should be concerned with. As noted in
Part 1 sin and disobedience was brought into the world of humankind by the
deception of Adam and Eve through the wiles of the Nachash. The first couple lost their possibly
glorified bodies and became typical humans such as all their descendants since
that incident. They were removed from
the Edenic garden and placed on real-time earth to make ends meet at the best
of their abilities. They were now under
the unwritten but understood “law of sin and death”. The death of something innocent was required
to expiate their sins. A sheep was first
killed as a means to clothe them and they were later apparently taught a type
of sacrificial system. Noah and his
family were familiar with the sacrificial system. Later, Moses and the Israelites (Hebrews)
were given a more complete sacrifice and offering structure. However, the animal sacrifices were all
temporary expiations of sin. Repentance,
trusting God, and following the laws of God generally referred to as “faith in
God” were required to become a “child of God”.
The Nachash (or Satan, devil, deceiver, accuser, or
whatever his actual name happens to be) became the “god of this world” and
everyone is his subject and under his authority. God began to construct His own nation through
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s 12 sons who were to be an example to the
world of the worship of the one, true, God.
Although it did not proceed as might be expected, the world obtained the
written instruction of God (the Bible), and the birth, life, death, and resurrection
of the Son of God. Those placing their
faith and trust in the one true God were shown mercy from God until the New
Covenant pronounced by Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the Son of God, was the innocent Lamb of God,
sacrificed for the remission of sins for all people. Salvation is not as simple as believing that
fact – one must repent and follow Jesus: His life and His commandments.
But we see Jesus, who was made
lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor
because he suffered death, so that by God's grace He would experience death on
behalf of everyone……to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. ……Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he
likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the
one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who
were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death…….. so that he
could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to
make atonement for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:9-17 NET)
DEFINITION OF ATONEMENT: Amends or reparation made for an injury
or wrong; expiation. The reconciliation
of God and humans brought about by the redemptive life and death of Jesus
Christ.
Because of disobedience to the laws of God the Creator,
all people with the knowledge of good and evil and thus considered law breakers
are to die as told to Adam and Eve. Yes,
we will all die a physical death until the return of Jesus but the spirit of a
person, given by God, continues to live in the abyss, in some type of sleep
state. Through the death and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, an atonement was given to us. He was the ultimate sacrificial Lamb; the
spilled blood for the remission of sins; a ransom to God the Father for the sin
and death of all. Those in bondage (to
Satan) now have their freedom purchased, if they are willing to follow the King
of the Kingdom.
Through selective scripture choosing, it is possible to
make the atonement through Jesus a simple thing with no side effects. Just believe that Jesus died for your sins
and continue with business as usual.
Some teach and preach a doctrine related to the Anselm (a Catholic Archbishop
of Canterbury, around 1100 AD) “satisfaction” model wherein the crucifixion sacrifice
was a once and for all debt payment to God and everything is finished – just believe
Christ died as your debt payment to God and anything else appears to be optional
(although optional is not necessarily taught just thought).
God did not simply send Jesus to
suffer and die so as to satisfy His own justice. Christ was not merely a
substitute for our own just punishment for errant behavior, and He did not
simply come to earth to take away the penalty of our sin. If this were true,
why then did Jesus teach at all? Why did He show us how to live if the
atonement was simply a legal transaction?
Marc Carrier: The Gospel According to Jesus
Since he had committed no sin and had been 100% obedient
to the will of God, he was not under the death sentence as the rest of humanity.
His death was not required for justice, it was a substitution or a sacrifice for
our sin nature. His blood was not a debt
payment but actually cleanses us from sin:
frees us from the law of sin and death; a ransom.
But if we walk in the light as
he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood
of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 NET)
The King and
His Slaves
"For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a
king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. As he began settling his
accounts, a man who owed ten thousand talents was brought to him. Because he
was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife,
children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. Then the slave
threw himself to the ground before him, saying, 'Be patient with me, and I will
repay you everything.' The lord had compassion on that slave and released him,
and forgave him the debt. After he went out, that same slave found one of his
fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. So he grabbed him by the
throat and started to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe me!' Then his
fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will
repay you.' But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until
he repaid the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were
very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. Then
his lord called the first slave and said to him, 'Evil slave! I forgave you all
that debt because you begged me! Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow
slave, just as I showed it to you?' And in anger his lord turned him over to
the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed. So also my
heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother
from your heart." (Matthew
18:23-35 NET)
The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a King (or God)
desiring to settle accounts with His slaves (or subjects). One is brought before Him with many
trespasses but he throws himself to the ground and repents of his sins and
promises to follow the King and not repeat his trespasses. The King had compassion on the slave and
forgives him of his debt. The slave,
however, does not keep his word, and has a fellow slave thrown into prison for
debts owed. The King then retracts His
compassion and demands the slave repay his debt.
False repentance and a lack of forgiveness does not
include one in the Kingdom of God. The
acts and decrees of the King must be followed with repentance at each
misstep.
Closing
Statements
The death of Jesus Christ has had many interpretations
and doctrines declared through the ages.
These various shades of understanding are most likely the product of the
expositor’s desires and expectations.
Jesus is scripturally called the “Lamb of God”, therefore it was a
sacrifice for sin. Since Jesus did not
sin, it must have been a substitute for His followers. It is my opinion His sacrifice ended the
sacrificial system for all time. It is
believed the Judeans will rebuild a temple (possibly in the near future) and
restart the daily sacrifices but it will not be recognized or honored by God. The death and resurrection of Jesus also
demonstrated that all the spirits of the dead will be resurrected at the return
of Christ (and afterward) some for eternal life and others for eternal death in
the lake of fire.
During the three days that Jesus was in the tomb, some
expositors have speculated that he went to the abyss (bottomless pit) in the
section designated as Abraham’s bosom and preached the Kingdom of God (or
Heaven) to the spirits that have been residing there since the time of Adam and
Eve. The truth of that is unknown, but
it is a thoughtful assessment.