Redemption

Chapter 6: Redemption (Part B)

B. God’s righteous requirement satisfied

The most important aspect of the Lamb that was slain is that through it an adequate atonement for sin was made that satisfied the righteous requirements of a holy God.

1. The idea of satisfying God’s righteous standard derives mainly from apostle Paul.

   God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood— to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. (Rom. 3:25 NASB)

   God …sen[t] his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us. (Rom. 8:3b-4a)

2. What is God’s righteous requirement?

   • The Greek verb hilaskōmai literally means, “to placate” as in averting wrath.

     In English, the word “atonement” means amends or reparation made for an injury or wrong.

   • The animals used in the Passover sacrifice, whose shed blood averted coming God’s wrath, were unblemished lambs.

     The apostles Peter, Paul and John, then, projected that imagery unto Christ, making him “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Pet. 1:19b), whose “precious blood” (1 Pet. 1:19a ) “save[s sinners] “from God’s wrath” (Rom. 5:9).

     1 Thess. 5:9:

     For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

     Rom. 5:9:

     Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him.

3. This view of atonement runs parallel to the medieval theologian Anselm’s satisfaction theory.

   • He stated: “Sin runs up a debt with God which humans can never themselves repay. But Christ’s death was of such worth that it satisfied God’s offended majesty and earned a reward. Hence the Father gives humanity salvation on account of the merits of Christ.”

   • To the question of why the punishment was necessary, Anselm responded: “It is not enough simply to restore what has been taken away.

     (Your child was told not to throw the ball inside the house; he did and as a result a vase was broken. It is not enough that he glues it back);

     but, in consideration of the insult offered, more than what was taken away must be rendered back.”

   • Then, he considered the opposite case of leaving the sin unpunished.

     1. “Let us consider whether God could properly [cancel] sin by mercy alone without satisfaction. So to [cancel] sin would be simply to abstain from punishing it. And since only possible way of correcting sin, for which no satisfaction has been made, is to punish; not to punish it, is to [cancel] it uncorrected.”

     2. “To [cancel] unpunished sin would be treating the sinful and the sinless alike which would be incongruous to God’s nature.” (Colin Brown in Dowley, p. 276)

        In modern churches where sin is treated as a disease or a by-product of bad environment, and Jesus portrayed as a personal trainer whose job is to empower us to get the most out of life, this is indeed a sobering thought.

C. What transpired on the cross?

1. By dying on the cross and later resurrecting, Jesus destroyed the devil’s rap sheet (written code) and disarmed him, meaning, the devil doesn’t have the legal right to harass us anymore with his accusations.

   Col. 1:13-15:

   When you’re dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

   What we owed the devil, namely death, Jesus paid in full on our behalf.

2. The communion service, which Jesus instituted to be celebrated by the believers, clearly captures what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

   1 Cor. 11:23-6:

   For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

   • What the broken bread represents (i.e., the torn curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place)

     It represents the broken body of Jesus that took the punishment for our sins by being “pierced for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities” (Is. 53:5).

   • The shed blood of Christ (that took away sins) represents God’s permanent forgiveness of sins and his willingness to forget about it.

     Heb. 10:16a, 17:

     This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord…. 17 Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’

Discussion:

Since God is sovereign, He didn’t have to have His Son die to redeem us; there are other ways. So, what is revealed by the fact that God chose the most difficult “method” to redeem us? How does that affect love for Him?

VI. The Final Result of Redemption

In short, it is eternal life. Paul says,

What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:21-3)

A. Two requirements for the redemption from the wages of sin

1. Obviously, faith is required in order to place trust in what Jesus did:

   while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

2. Along with faith, repentance is also needed.

   The apostle Paul, standing before his accusers, summarized his years as an itinerant evangelist in the following manner: “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20).

   Repentance is the effect of having understood what Jesus did (dying for our sins so that we are not consumed by God’s wrath): a decision to turn from sin.

   • Some advocate that repentance is a change of opinion about who Christ is (i.e., the Son of God), which is already included in believing; it doesn’t include contrition over sins and turning from them.

   • On the contrary, others teach as if they expect the obedient life to manifest in its fullest measure from the outset of the Christian life.

     Its leading advocate John MacArthur once said, “Faith is not complete unless it is obedient.”

3. The position presented in this study is different from these.

   • Upon placing faith in the work and person of Christ, and as the Holy Spirit regenerates that person at the same time, there ought to be an inward repentance consisting of contrition over sins and a desire, intent, and will to turn from sin.

   • The actual changes in behavior and how quickly these changes may occur, are largely dependent on the degree to which the believers cooperate with the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

     This will be fully addressed in later chapters.

B. The logical order of salvation (all happening simultaneously)

In light of our study on regeneration, justification and redemption, the logical order of salvation is as follows:

1. Regeneration=New Birth=Born-Again.

2. Recognition of one’s sinfulness and sins.

   • → Which leads to contrition (“I am sorry for my sins.”)

     1. Peter said before Jesus:

        Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!. (Lk. 5:8b)

     2. Isaiah said before God:

        Woe to me…. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips. (Is. 6:5)

   • → Which then leads to repentance (turning from sin)

     1. Inward: this refers to having the desire, intent, will and attitude to turn from sin.

     2. Outward: this does not necessarily mean that this person will turn from all his actual sins right away.

   • Having been made alive by God, sinners are now able to recognize the following:

     1. They are “a prisoner of sin” (Gal. 3:22).

     2. They are unable to rescue themselves.

3. Reception of faith.

   Once made alive and having repented, they now receive the gift of faith, which enables them to look outside of themselves to Christ and His work as the only hope and strength.

   Eph. 2:8-9:

   For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

4. Imputation of God’s righteousness.

   God imputes His righteousness on those who have appropriated the faith on account of Christ’ finished work, as if they have never sinned.

   Rom. 5:19:

   For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

   2 Cor. 5:21:

   He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

5. Justification.

   A judicial act in which God the judge officially pronounces the sinners to be righteous. This official acquittal means that the devil no longer has any legal claims on us.

   Rom. 5:1a:

   Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,…

   Rom. 8:1:

   Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” John 8:36: “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Discussion:

In the Western church, justification is understood in a legal sense: Not guilty! But in the Orthodox church, justification is understood as the restoration of the lost image or likeness of God, which occurred at the fall. Does that change your view of justification? What does it mean that in Christ our original likeness to God (James 3:9b) has been recovered (1 Pet. 1:15; 2 Pet. 1:4)?

Homework

Read over the material covered in the last class and the additional Bible reading (if any). If you have any questions, please note them here and ask me later.

1. What is atonement? Why was that necessary for God to accept sinners?

2. What is the main difference between the ransom theory and the theory of satisfaction of God’s righteous requirement?

Answer:

• The ransom theory posits that through sin mankind became subject to the devil; the mark of this subjection was death. God in his grace wished to free men, but he was unable to because the devil’s claim was just.”

• “Consequently, to neutralize Satan’s claim a ransom had to be paid in the form of a valuable person over whom Satan had no right—a sinless man. Thus, the devil was tricked when Christ was crucified, because the Son of God was sinless; now God can with justice save whomsoever he please.

• But we shouldn’t think that the devil forced Jesus to do this; according to Jn, 10:17-8, no one takes away life away from Jesus, but he lays it down of his own accord.

• The righteous requirement of God is placating his anger toward sin. For to satisfy his anger, the sin cannot be properly cancelled unless punishment for sin has been carried out. To cancel unpunished sin would be treating the sinful and the sinless alike which wouldn’t reflect God’s nature.