Of the primary seven atonement theories, there is one that, above others, offends the senses of many today, one that they claim causes them to reject Christianity: Penal Substitution. Such people forget that, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin (Heb. 9:22). Their problem, then, is with Scripture. Such people should rip Leviticus and Hebrews out of their Bibles and invent their own religion--a Christless, bloodless religion, one that does not offer salvation from sin but mere self-improvement. Penal Substitution theory is developed and systematized out of the Reformation era: Martin Luther and John Calvin rightly modify Anselm's Satisfaction Theory, focusing on the Blood of Jesus Christ, offered to appease God and His just wrath against our sins. What matters most is the biblical validity of the theory.
Stephen Morrison notes that Luther and Calvin "added a more legal (or forensic) framework into this notion of Christ's blood as satisfaction. The result is that, within Penal Substitution, Jesus Christ dies to satisfy God's wrath against human sin" (Reformed persons rightly highlight God's wrath against sinners). Jesus "is punished (penal) in the place of sinners (substitution) in order to satisfy the justice of God and the legal demand of God to punish sin." This theory of the atonement "contrasts with Anselm's Satisfaction Theory in that, God is not satisfied with a debt of justice being paid by Jesus, but that God is satisfied with punishing Jesus in the place of mankind." This idea maintains a sense of sinners existing in the hands of an angry God and that is one of the problems of this theory for many believers (cf. Ps. 5:5, 6; 7:11; 11:5).
GOD AND HATRED | GOD AND LOVE
The same God who is said to love the world (John 3:16), and that Christ died for the whole world (1 John 2:2), is also noted as hating all who perpetually do evil, destroying those who speak falsely (Ps. 5:7); being a just judge, powerful and patient, God is angry with the wicked every day (Ps. 7:12); He tests the righteous, and the wicked, and hates those who love violence (Ps 11:5). So, God can express anger and righteous hatred (indignation), and also eternally and savingly love people created in His image who made themselves enemies of God by their sin. In other words, the very same God who commands us to love and to pray for our enemies (Matt. 5:44), is also capable of loving and seeking reconciliation with these sinners who estranged themselves from Him. "God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:19). God will be reconciled to sinners by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8) in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-26) through the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) by the Atonement of Christ--Atonement characterized as the at-one-ment work of Christ making us reconciled as being "one" with God.
How can a "child of wrath" (Eph. 2:3) also be an object of God's electing love (Eph. 1:4, 5)? The designation "children of wrath" pertains to the condition inherited by each person born into the world stemming back to Adam (Eph. 2:1, 2, 3; Rom. 5:18, 19; Prov. 22:15; Ps. 51:5 CSB). God transforms a child of wrath into an adopted child of God and puts on display the miracle of His grace and His salvation through the blood-atonement of Jesus Christ and the effectual grace of regeneration by the Holy Spirit (John 1:11, 12, 13; 1 Cor. 1:30; Titus 3:5; James 1:18).
ATONEMENT, INC.
Rather than choosing one atonement theory, restricting that theory as the only viable option for believers (as do many advocates of Penal Substitution), I choose to incorporate aspects of the theories into one atonement doctrine with five attributes or focal characteristics. Just as we relate to the Holy Spirit as the Sevenfold Spirit of God in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 5:6)--the Seven notable and eternal characteristics of the Holy Spirit, including the Holy Spirit as a Person, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel, the Spirit of Strength, the Spirit of Knowledge, and the Spirit of the Fear of the LORD (cf. Isa. 11:2)--so too can we perceive of a five-fold compound-unity atonement and not five separate theories: five interrelated-aspects of the one atonement of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.
The earliest of atonement theories, the Moral Influence Theory, posits that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus brings about moral change by the Holy Spirit in those who trust in Christ by the effectual grace of the Spirit (Rom. 6:1-4; Eph. 1:4, 5, 6; 2:1, 2, 3; Titus 3:5). The Ransom Theory suggests that the death of Jesus was the price paid to redeem fallen mortals (yet particularly and really for those who believe, 1 Cor. 1:21, as Universalism is false, John 3:36). This is true (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; Acts 20:28; Eph. 1:7; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; 1 Pet. 1:18; 2 Pet. 2:1). The Christus Victor theory insists that the life and death of Jesus defeats the powers of evil. This is also true (Luke 10:17, 18, 19, 20; 1 John 3:8; 4:4). All three atonement theories above are true and belong to a fuller explanation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ for sinners.
Anselm's Satisfaction Theory posits that the death of Jesus on the Cross pays the debt that human sin accrued and satisfies the justice of God for believers. This, too, is true (1 John 2:1-2). Modifying this theory, Luther and Calvin proffer Penal Substitution Theory, through which the sacrifice of Jesus disarms the wrath of God against the elect in Christ (Eph. 1:3-7). We do well not to ignore the scriptures here: We who trust in Christ are currently waiting for Him to appear from Heaven, He whom God raised from the dead, "Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming" (1 Thess. 1:10). There is still a wrath of God to come. The five atonement theories can be viewed as five aspects of the one Atonement of Christ. So the one Atonement of Christ for believers brings about a five-fold effect: a Moral Influence of God's redeemed by regeneration of the Holy Spirit Ransoms believers from the effects of their sin, proving Christ as Victor over sin, death, the grave and Hell in the form of the wrath of God, Satisfying the just anger of God in a Penal Substitution of Jesus for, lit., the ones believing (1 Cor. 1:21).
CONTENDERS
The Governmental Theory of the Atonement is a modified form of Penal Substitution originating with the Arminian Jurist and founder of International Treaty and Maritime Law Hugo Grotius (1583-1645). Jesus' death on the Cross is perceived as a demonstration of God's hatred of sin without necessary notions of satisfying any wrath of God against sinners. We are, then, not sinners in the hands of an angry God but sinners in the hands of an "all-loving" and omni self-sacrificial God. This is partial error. Jesus freely, lovingly, and willingly gave up Himself for sinners, for redemption, which is true (Matt. 26:53, 54; Gal. 1:4; 1 Tim. 2:6; Heb. 12:2). But all will not be redeemed; only believers will be redeemed; and to deny God's wrath is to deny the Word and the reality of God Himself (John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 19:15).
Finally, the Scapegoat Theory is a recent iteration of atonement theories, suggesting that Jesus dies as a scapegoat for the sins of all humanity. Stephen Morris quotes an advocate of this theory, James Allison, to this effect: "Christianity is a priestly religion [which, we argue back, God ordained] which understands that it is God's overcoming of our violence by substituting Himself for the victim of our typical sacrifices that opens up our being able to enjoy the fullness of creation as if death were not." This novel rendition is a partial truism--we justly recall the sin offering found in Leviticus referring to the Scapegoat (Lev. 16:8, 10, 26). Roy E. Gane explains the purification process:
Jesus, referring to Himself, and to His return, utters these frightful words, "the master of that [unfaithful and disloyal] slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 24:50-51). Perhaps our Triune God is not the god some people really want. "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29); "How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:29-31); "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18); "The LORD is a man of war: the LORD [YWHW] is His Name" (Ex. 15:3).
OTHER TYPES OF SACRIFICES
Similarly, the blood of Jesus Christ graciously purges the believer (and not everyone) of sins, which are carried away into a wilderness of forgiveness. The blood of animals were never capable of permanently purging anyone from sin (Heb. 10:4). For God desires "steadfast love and not sacrifice--the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6); "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice" (Prov. 21:3 ESV); "Through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name" (Heb. 13:15). God views sacrifice in manifold ways and so should we. "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8 NRSV).
"You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea" (Mic. 7:19)--a watery wilderness where sin is drowned. "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22). "For [God] will not delight in sacrifice." God "will not be pleased with a burnt offering [of an animal]. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Ps. 51:16-17). "Come to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:4). "I appeal to you ... by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to [the pattern of thinking of] this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect [in God's view]" (Rom. 12:1-2 ESV).
THE BLOOD
Why, then, is there not only a requirement for sacrificial animal blood, in the Hebrew scriptures, but a requirement of Jesus' blood for the forgiveness of our sins in the Jewish-Christian era? We know, first, that life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11, 14). Under Old Covenant Law, life is given for life (Deut. 19:21), and thus there is a connection between life and blood as a sacrificial and judicial expiation or propitiation or atoning for sins committed. Jesus is the ἱλασμός, the propitiation, the expiation, the atoning sacrifice for all our sins (1 John 2:2; 4:10). This Greek word is understood as an offering to appease an angry or offended person. Who, in Scripture, is the Offended and who is the Offender? Unjust and unholy sinners have offended and continually still offend a just and holy God. Could not God merely, out of grace and mercy, forgive our sins without the requirement of the blood of Jesus? No. For when every Commandment of God had been spoken by
Again, according to the author of Hebrews, "Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him" (Heb. 9:27-28). We must never neglect or forsake or be offended by the Blood of Jesus. If the sacrificial Blood of Jesus offends your senses then God's redemption, God's effecting newness of life by the regenerating Holy Spirit and His eternal salvation must, by necessity, also offend your senses, for, by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Blood of Jesus really and actually
__________
1 Roy E. Gane, "Leviticus," in The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, eds. Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 20112), 103.
2 References taken from Kevin J. Conner, The Foundations of Christian Doctrine: A Practical Guide to Christian Belief (Portland: City Christian Publishing, 1980), 225.
Stephen Morrison notes that Luther and Calvin "added a more legal (or forensic) framework into this notion of Christ's blood as satisfaction. The result is that, within Penal Substitution, Jesus Christ dies to satisfy God's wrath against human sin" (Reformed persons rightly highlight God's wrath against sinners). Jesus "is punished (penal) in the place of sinners (substitution) in order to satisfy the justice of God and the legal demand of God to punish sin." This theory of the atonement "contrasts with Anselm's Satisfaction Theory in that, God is not satisfied with a debt of justice being paid by Jesus, but that God is satisfied with punishing Jesus in the place of mankind." This idea maintains a sense of sinners existing in the hands of an angry God and that is one of the problems of this theory for many believers (cf. Ps. 5:5, 6; 7:11; 11:5).
GOD AND HATRED | GOD AND LOVE
The same God who is said to love the world (John 3:16), and that Christ died for the whole world (1 John 2:2), is also noted as hating all who perpetually do evil, destroying those who speak falsely (Ps. 5:7); being a just judge, powerful and patient, God is angry with the wicked every day (Ps. 7:12); He tests the righteous, and the wicked, and hates those who love violence (Ps 11:5). So, God can express anger and righteous hatred (indignation), and also eternally and savingly love people created in His image who made themselves enemies of God by their sin. In other words, the very same God who commands us to love and to pray for our enemies (Matt. 5:44), is also capable of loving and seeking reconciliation with these sinners who estranged themselves from Him. "God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:19). God will be reconciled to sinners by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8) in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-26) through the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) by the Atonement of Christ--Atonement characterized as the at-one-ment work of Christ making us reconciled as being "one" with God.
How can a "child of wrath" (Eph. 2:3) also be an object of God's electing love (Eph. 1:4, 5)? The designation "children of wrath" pertains to the condition inherited by each person born into the world stemming back to Adam (Eph. 2:1, 2, 3; Rom. 5:18, 19; Prov. 22:15; Ps. 51:5 CSB). God transforms a child of wrath into an adopted child of God and puts on display the miracle of His grace and His salvation through the blood-atonement of Jesus Christ and the effectual grace of regeneration by the Holy Spirit (John 1:11, 12, 13; 1 Cor. 1:30; Titus 3:5; James 1:18).
ATONEMENT, INC.
Rather than choosing one atonement theory, restricting that theory as the only viable option for believers (as do many advocates of Penal Substitution), I choose to incorporate aspects of the theories into one atonement doctrine with five attributes or focal characteristics. Just as we relate to the Holy Spirit as the Sevenfold Spirit of God in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 5:6)--the Seven notable and eternal characteristics of the Holy Spirit, including the Holy Spirit as a Person, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel, the Spirit of Strength, the Spirit of Knowledge, and the Spirit of the Fear of the LORD (cf. Isa. 11:2)--so too can we perceive of a five-fold compound-unity atonement and not five separate theories: five interrelated-aspects of the one atonement of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.
The earliest of atonement theories, the Moral Influence Theory, posits that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus brings about moral change by the Holy Spirit in those who trust in Christ by the effectual grace of the Spirit (Rom. 6:1-4; Eph. 1:4, 5, 6; 2:1, 2, 3; Titus 3:5). The Ransom Theory suggests that the death of Jesus was the price paid to redeem fallen mortals (yet particularly and really for those who believe, 1 Cor. 1:21, as Universalism is false, John 3:36). This is true (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; Acts 20:28; Eph. 1:7; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; 1 Pet. 1:18; 2 Pet. 2:1). The Christus Victor theory insists that the life and death of Jesus defeats the powers of evil. This is also true (Luke 10:17, 18, 19, 20; 1 John 3:8; 4:4). All three atonement theories above are true and belong to a fuller explanation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ for sinners.
Anselm's Satisfaction Theory posits that the death of Jesus on the Cross pays the debt that human sin accrued and satisfies the justice of God for believers. This, too, is true (1 John 2:1-2). Modifying this theory, Luther and Calvin proffer Penal Substitution Theory, through which the sacrifice of Jesus disarms the wrath of God against the elect in Christ (Eph. 1:3-7). We do well not to ignore the scriptures here: We who trust in Christ are currently waiting for Him to appear from Heaven, He whom God raised from the dead, "Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming" (1 Thess. 1:10). There is still a wrath of God to come. The five atonement theories can be viewed as five aspects of the one Atonement of Christ. So the one Atonement of Christ for believers brings about a five-fold effect: a Moral Influence of God's redeemed by regeneration of the Holy Spirit Ransoms believers from the effects of their sin, proving Christ as Victor over sin, death, the grave and Hell in the form of the wrath of God, Satisfying the just anger of God in a Penal Substitution of Jesus for, lit., the ones believing (1 Cor. 1:21).
CONTENDERS
The Governmental Theory of the Atonement is a modified form of Penal Substitution originating with the Arminian Jurist and founder of International Treaty and Maritime Law Hugo Grotius (1583-1645). Jesus' death on the Cross is perceived as a demonstration of God's hatred of sin without necessary notions of satisfying any wrath of God against sinners. We are, then, not sinners in the hands of an angry God but sinners in the hands of an "all-loving" and omni self-sacrificial God. This is partial error. Jesus freely, lovingly, and willingly gave up Himself for sinners, for redemption, which is true (Matt. 26:53, 54; Gal. 1:4; 1 Tim. 2:6; Heb. 12:2). But all will not be redeemed; only believers will be redeemed; and to deny God's wrath is to deny the Word and the reality of God Himself (John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 19:15).
Finally, the Scapegoat Theory is a recent iteration of atonement theories, suggesting that Jesus dies as a scapegoat for the sins of all humanity. Stephen Morris quotes an advocate of this theory, James Allison, to this effect: "Christianity is a priestly religion [which, we argue back, God ordained] which understands that it is God's overcoming of our violence by substituting Himself for the victim of our typical sacrifices that opens up our being able to enjoy the fullness of creation as if death were not." This novel rendition is a partial truism--we justly recall the sin offering found in Leviticus referring to the Scapegoat (Lev. 16:8, 10, 26). Roy E. Gane explains the purification process:
The Day of Atonement purification offerings are supplemented by two burnt offerings for the same offerers: priests and people (Lev. 16:24). After purging the sanctuary with blood, the high priest transfers the culpabilities and sins of Israel to a live goat belonging to "Azazel" [scapegoat; lit. entire removal (of sin); a proper name for Spirit-Haunting Wilderness] by confessing while placing both hands on its head. Then he banishes the goat [non-sacrificially] as a ritual "garbage truck" [of the sins of believers and covenant people] into the wilderness to Azazel, thereby permanently removing the moral faults of the Israelites from their camp (Lev. 16:10, 21-22).1This theory is supposed to "relieve" God of any hint of a violent response to sinners (contra John 3:36b NKJV). "Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" (Rev. 6:15-17 NASB). "For they themselves report about us as to the kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:9, 10).
Jesus, referring to Himself, and to His return, utters these frightful words, "the master of that [unfaithful and disloyal] slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 24:50-51). Perhaps our Triune God is not the god some people really want. "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29); "How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:29-31); "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18); "The LORD is a man of war: the LORD [YWHW] is His Name" (Ex. 15:3).
OTHER TYPES OF SACRIFICES
Similarly, the blood of Jesus Christ graciously purges the believer (and not everyone) of sins, which are carried away into a wilderness of forgiveness. The blood of animals were never capable of permanently purging anyone from sin (Heb. 10:4). For God desires "steadfast love and not sacrifice--the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6); "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice" (Prov. 21:3 ESV); "Through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name" (Heb. 13:15). God views sacrifice in manifold ways and so should we. "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8 NRSV).
"You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea" (Mic. 7:19)--a watery wilderness where sin is drowned. "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22). "For [God] will not delight in sacrifice." God "will not be pleased with a burnt offering [of an animal]. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Ps. 51:16-17). "Come to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:4). "I appeal to you ... by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to [the pattern of thinking of] this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect [in God's view]" (Rom. 12:1-2 ESV).
THE BLOOD
Why, then, is there not only a requirement for sacrificial animal blood, in the Hebrew scriptures, but a requirement of Jesus' blood for the forgiveness of our sins in the Jewish-Christian era? We know, first, that life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11, 14). Under Old Covenant Law, life is given for life (Deut. 19:21), and thus there is a connection between life and blood as a sacrificial and judicial expiation or propitiation or atoning for sins committed. Jesus is the ἱλασμός, the propitiation, the expiation, the atoning sacrifice for all our sins (1 John 2:2; 4:10). This Greek word is understood as an offering to appease an angry or offended person. Who, in Scripture, is the Offended and who is the Offender? Unjust and unholy sinners have offended and continually still offend a just and holy God. Could not God merely, out of grace and mercy, forgive our sins without the requirement of the blood of Jesus? No. For when every Commandment of God had been spoken by
Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the Covenant which God commanded you." And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood [which God commanded]. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9:19-22).The author of Hebrews adds: "But now once at the consummation of the ages He," Jesus, "has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Heb. 9:26). God provided for Himself the Sacrifice (Gen. 22:8): But now the righteousness (or justice) of God (who is the sole Justifier of the one who by grace believes in Christ) has been manifested apart from [mere observance of] the Law, although the Law
and the Prophets bear witness to it--[that is] the righteousness of God [imputed to the believer] through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and [all who believe] are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by [the act of] faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance, He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom. 3:21-26 ESV).The Blood of Jesus Christ truly atones (covers and takes away the sin of) the person who, by grace, believes in Him; by which God had regenerated the sinner; upon which God then justifies the believer; at which time God then imputes the very righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believer (cf. Rom. 4:11). Jesus perfectly and sinlessly fulfilled the Law of God and God considers us in Christ to be as pure, as holy, as just as is Jesus. He even loves us just as He loves Jesus (John 17:23). God took all of our sin, the sins of the ones believing in Christ, and laid it upon Christ Jesus; He then took all of Christ's righteousness and graciously laid it upon us. He sees us in and through Christ--not ourselves.
Again, according to the author of Hebrews, "Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him" (Heb. 9:27-28). We must never neglect or forsake or be offended by the Blood of Jesus. If the sacrificial Blood of Jesus offends your senses then God's redemption, God's effecting newness of life by the regenerating Holy Spirit and His eternal salvation must, by necessity, also offend your senses, for, by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Blood of Jesus really and actually
- cleanses from sin (1 John 1:7);
- ransoms from a lost condition to a transformed life (1 Pet. 1:18);
- purges the sinful conscience of the believer (Heb. 9:13);
- brings to the believer a justification by God (Rom. 5:9);
- brings about a sanctification or holiness to the believer (Heb. 13:12);
- brings about redemption, salvation, and eternal life (John 6:53-57, 63; Rom. 5:9-10; Eph. 1:7);
- brings peace and reconciliation between sinners and God (Rom. 3:25, 2 Cor. 5:19-21);
- grants the believer access to God (Eph. 2:13);
- grants the believer access to the family of God (1 Cor. 10:16; 12:13); and
- grants the believer power over evil and injustice (Rev. 12:11).2
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1 Roy E. Gane, "Leviticus," in The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, eds. Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 20112), 103.
2 References taken from Kevin J. Conner, The Foundations of Christian Doctrine: A Practical Guide to Christian Belief (Portland: City Christian Publishing, 1980), 225.
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