THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT
Definite Atonement

by Dustin Shramek

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:3).

What does Paul mean by, "Christ died for our sins?"
What did Jesus do at the cross?

The question tonight is, "At the cross, did Jesus make salvation possible? Or did he make it actual?" Were our sins atoned for at the cross? Or when we believed?

To answer those questions we will look at how the Bible talks about the atonement--what kind of language is used? We must be careful not to let our preconceived ideas about the atonement influence the way in which we interpret the Biblical texts speaking on the atonement. We must let the words of scripture define our belief. We will specifically look at six words used to describe the atonement and how they show what the nature of the atonement is.

I. Sacrifice

A. What is the Old Testament idea of sacrifice? And how does that help us when interpreting the death of Christ?

1. Leviticus 16:15-16. Why did Aaron slaughter (sacrifice) the goat? (See also all of Leviticus 16-17).
2. The nature of these sacrifices were expiatory.
   1. What is expiatory? It means that the sacrifice was the provision where sin was covered and the divine curse and wrath were removed.

B. Hebrews 9:26; 9:11-15.

1. How is Christ's death like the Old Testament sacrifice?

C. In the likeness of the Old Testament sacrifice, Christ expiated our guilty and he also purged away our sin. For surely, if the Levitical offerings were expiatory, how much more their archetype, the death of Christ, which they foreshadow? Christ's offering is efficacious in a way the Levitical offerings could not have been for they were temporary, provisional, preparatory, and partial, but Christ's was eternal, permanently real, the final, and the complete (Hebrews 9:14).

II. Substitution

A. The Old Testament sacrifices were also substitutionary in nature (see Leviticus 16:8-9). The animal was killed in their place. Our sin deserves death (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23). But God atoned for our sin through the death of the animal offered. The offerer's sin was imputed to the offering and it bore the death penalty.

B. Christ's death was also substitutionary (1 Corinthians 15:3; Romans 5:8).

C. If Christ died as our substitution for our sins, should we still have to die for them?

III. Propitiation

A. Romans 3:25-26; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 4:10.

1. What is propitiation?
2. How is this idea conveyed in the OT (Leviticus 4:35)?
   1. When was the priest forgiven?
3. What does it mean for Christ to be our propitiation?
4. What does this reveal about what Christ did at the cross?

IV. Reconciliation

A. Romans 5:8-11

1. Why did we need to be reconciled?
2. How were we reconciled?
3. When were we reconciled?
4. Is reconciliation simply the change of our attitude toward God? Notice the parallel between verse 10 ("reconciled to God through the death of His Son") and verse 9 ("having now been justified by His blood"). The latter is not a subjective change in our attitude toward God, so is the former?

B. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

1. Who does the reconciling, us or God?

V. Redemption

A. Galatians 3:10-14

1. What have we been redeemed from?
2. Why do we need to be redeemed?
3. What is the benefit of redemption?

B. Galatians 4:4-5

1. Why did God send Christ?
2. What is the purposed effect of our redemption?

VI. Ransom

A. Mark 10:45

1. Why did Christ come?
2. What was the ransom price?

VII. Conclusion

A. Is the atonement completed?

1. Hebrews 1:3
   1. When did Christ sit down at the right hand of God?
2. Hebrews 9:12, 25-26.
   1. What kind of redemption is it?
   2. What did Christ put away on the cross?

B. What does all of this mean?

C. Was the cross sufficient for our atonement? Or does it also need our faith?

D. Did Christ not also secure our faith at the cross (Romans 8:32)?

E. If Christ was our substitutionary sacrifice who propitiated for our sins, redeemed us, reconciled us to God, and paid our ransom, would it not be unjust for God to still send us to Hell?

F. "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:3).

1. What does Paul mean by, "Christ died for our sins?"
2. What did Jesus do at the cross?

Go back to Contend for the Faith.

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