When humanity rebelled against God, God’s love compelled him to act on our behalf to restore the relationship broken by sin. He did this by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to make atonement.
Aspects of the Atonement
The word “atonement” originally meant “at-one-ment” – or being in harmony with someone. In Bible translations, the word captures a multi-faceted concept reflecting several key biblical words. At its heart is the idea that human beings can be reconciled to God through the sacrificial suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
Sacrifice
The first problem addressed by the atonement is that we deserve to die as the penalty for sin. This is pictured vividly in the Old Testament sacrificial system, where sin required death. Whenever an offense against God’s law occurred, an animal was killed in place of the sinner to set the offense right (Leviticus 4:13-14; Leviticus 5:5-6). The book of Hebrews makes clear that these sacrifices pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. He is depicted as the high priest who enters the Holy Place of God’s temple to offer a sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 2:17). Yet the sacrifice is not a bull or goat, but his own life blood. In this picture, Jesus is both the priest and the offering (Hebrews 9:11-12).
Propitiation
The second problem the atonement deals with is that we deserve to bear God’s wrath against sin. The wrath of God is his settled animosity toward sin. Wrath is what our sin and rebellion deserve from a holy God. Propitiation means that God’s wrath is averted by offering a gift. That gift is provided by God himself (1 John 4:10) in the person of Jesus (1 John 2:2), who freely offered himself as a sacrifice of propitiation for us by shedding his blood (Romans 3:25).
Redemption
The third need that the atonement addresses is that we are in bondage to sin and to the kingdom of Satan. Jesus purchased our freedom from the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13-14) and transferred us into his own kingdom. In his grace, God bought our freedom from sin and from the empty life common to humanity, through Jesus’ sacrifice (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Timothy 2:6; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
Reconciliation
The atonement also addresses the problem that we are separated from God. Sin has estranged us from God and made us his enemies. But Christ’s death ends the enmity and brings about peace. God brought us back to himself through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18) so that we become friends with God (Romans 5:10-11).
Substitution
All of these aspects of atonement strongly suggest that the death of Christ was a substitute for our own. Jesus died on our behalf (Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 5:2) and in our place (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:28). He bore our sins (1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:5-6) to set aside God’s wrath, set us free from sin, and remove the cause of enmity between us and God.
Election
An important and challenging question in Christian theology has to do with how and to whom God applies the atonement of Jesus to peoples’ lives. Two perspectives dominate: Calvinist (Reformed) and Arminian. The two groups differ on whether Jesus’ atoning sacrifice was made for all human beings, or only for those chosen by God for salvation. At the center of this debate is the biblical doctrine of election. Both groups believe in God’s calling and election (Romans 8:30; Ephesians 1:4-5), but differ in what those concepts mean.
The Calvinist position begins with the premise that every human being is born spiritually dead because of sin (Ephesians 2:1). Our sinful nature is completely hostile to God (Romans 8:7). This renders humans totally unable to come to God. God must make a person spiritually alive first, before he or she can appreciate or respond to the work of Christ (Acts 13;48).
Arminians agree that humans are incapable of responding to God on their own, and require an act of God in order to receive the gospel. But they argue that God provides a form of grace (“prevenient grace”) to all humanity that overcomes our inherent human inability, so that anyone can freely choose God if they will.
Calvinists hold that, because humans cannot contribute anything to their own salvation (Ephesians 2:8), only those chosen by God can be saved. God elected people for salvation unconditionally, not based on any attribute within any person, but only on his own decision (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 9:15-16). God intervenes in a person’s life in such a way that his sovereign choice of them is ultimately reflected in their own choice to willingly follow him. Thus when God calls someone to salvation, the call is effectual. That person will be saved.
Arminians believe that God desires all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9), not just some pre-selected number. So God chooses those who will be saved, not on the basis of his sovereign will, but based on his foreknowledge (Romans 8:29). In other words, God has elected those whom he knew in advance would believe in him. Thus when God calls someone to salvation, it is a general call to everyone, which people can accept or reject.
These concepts relate to the atonement because Calvinists believe that Jesus died only for those who would actually be saved: the elect. Arminians believe that Jesus died for everyone, but only those who avail themselves of his atoning sacrifice will be saved. Calvinists cite passages that suggest Jesus’ work applies only narrowly (1 John 10:14-15; Ephesians 5:25), while Arminians focus on passages that speak about Jesus’ death more universally (John 1:29; Hebrews 2:9; 1 John 2:2)
In the end, the differences between Calvinists and Arminians seem great. But generally, both groups agree on the basic message of the gospel that captures the heart of Jesus’ atonement.
Defining the Gospel
The word “gospel” translates the New Testament word meaning “message of good news.” The essential content of this message is Jesus (Romans 16:25). He is both the Messiah and the Son of God, now raised from the dead and Lord of all (Romans 1:1-4; 2 Timothy 2:8). The gospel tells us how God saves sinners to make us right with him (Romans 1:16-17). It promises that those who believe in Christ are enfolded into his people and promised an eternal inheritance (Ephesians 1:12-13). The gospel is the good news that God saved us into a new life, not because we deserved it, but by his grace. Jesus our Savior came to break the power of death and open the way into life and immortality (1 Timothy 1:8-11). In short, the gospel is the hopeful message that Jesus provides the remedy for our sin, both in this life and in eternity, for all who simply believe.
The Bible expands significantly on this core message to proclaim what God has done for sinners, as we will explore in Topic 8.
