DOCTRINE 6: THE ATONEMENT WE BELIEVE THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS, BY HIS SUFFERING AND DEATH, MADE AN ATONEMENT FOR THE WHOLE WORLD SO THAT WHOSOEVER WILL MAY BE SAVED RECRUITS BOOK PAGE 16 Big Ideas Jesus death and resurrection opened the way for humanity to be reconciled to a loving God Biblical analogies for the atonement; ransom, punishment, sacrifice, victory and love Understanding the generosity of the atonement should motivate us to evangelise To die on a Roman cross was a grisly and humiliating end for anyone, even more so for the Son of God it was the ultimate act of blasphemy. How did the torture implement par excellence of the Roman Empire become the symbol of God s love for humanity? Why do Christians wear this symbol around their necks? Why are churches across the world decorated with these Roman execution devices? Why is it that the murder of God himself in Christ is held up by Christians as the central point of God s saving work for humanity? Leader s Note We can become blasé about Jesus death after a while. It has been a fact of history for over 2,000 years, but we need to come back to the fact that it was an astounding event which really bends the fabric of creation. In Christ, the God of the universe submitted himself to death. We should never forget how shocking that is. He who is life itself allowed himself to be killed for love. It is rather an odd claim; however it stands at the heart of the Christian faith. Paul described the paradox this way, Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23-24 NRSV). To this day it can be difficult to understand why Jesus had to die, and there are many outside the church for whom this is an insurmountable difficulty. However, in the middle of it all we can say with certainty that Once and for all, Jesus death and resurrection opened the way for humanity to be reconciled to a loving God (The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine, p. 127). The bible doesn t give us a single model for understanding the atonement. Rather it uses a number of different metaphors and analogies to help us understand what was going on in Jesus death and resurrection. This means that there is no simple way of understanding the atonement, and that each metaphor gives us part of the picture. The Salvation Army Handbook of
Doctrine highlights five of those biblical analogies and images, which taken together provide insight into the meaning of the atonement: Ransom the payment made to secure our freedom (Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6) In this model God made the payment to Satan to secure our freedom. The deal that Aslan makes with the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe to free Edmund is an example of the Ransom model of the atonement. This view has limitations because God does not owe anyone anything, but it is a useful metaphor if you don t push it too far. The ransom metaphor s strength is in highlighting that when we love someone there is no ransom too high to be paid to secure their freedom if they have been taken prisoner. That is the way God feels about us and our enslavement to sin. Punishment the punishment for our sins (Isaiah 53:5; John 10:11-18; 15:13) this model sees sin as a legal problem. Justice demands punishment or reparation for sins committed. Under this metaphor for the atonement the punishment for our sins is death and Jesus has taken that on himself so that in exchange we can have life. This is sometimes referred to as the Penal Substitution theory of the atonement. Sacrifice the sacrifice that restored fellowship between God and humanity (Hebrews 10:10-14; Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 1:7; Romans 3:25, 26; 2 Corinthians 5:21) There are two ways that sacrifice bring about reconciliation. Sacrifices of propitiation affect a change within God such that he can forgive us. Sacrifices of expiation affect a change in us such that we can be in relationship with God without guilt and shame being a barrier. Victory the victory over sin and powers of evil (Colossians 2:13-15) this metaphor sees sin and the devil as the enemy that keeps humans enslaved. Jesus death was God s victory over sin and the kingdom of darkness. This understanding of the atonement is sometimes referred to as the Christus Victor theory. It was widely held by the early Christians. Love the self-giving love of God (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19; John 3:16; Romans 5:18, 19) ultimately the atonement is God s act of unconditional love for all people everywhere. There is no part of human existence that Christ has not entered into and shared with us. As he lived and grew up as a human being, he has also shared in our death and separation from God. When we receive Christ in faith we then share in his resurrection life, and we come into a new relationship with God through grace. The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine reminds us that recognising the generosity of the Atonement should help us to recognise the depth and gravity of our sin and in repentance to discover the joy of our salvation in Christ. The Church s mission then is to share the message of God s amazing generosity to everyone in Christ and to live the message out, so that the atoning power of the Cross can be seen in our lives (pp. 132-3). Our Passover lamb In the gospel of John, Jesus death is understood within the Old Testament context of the Passover. In Exodus 12 God gave Moses instructions for the
first Passover. After many plagues on Egypt, Pharaoh still had not freed the people of Israel. As a final plague, God sent an angel of death through Egypt to kill all the firstborn. In order to protect the firstborn of Israel God instructed Moses that each family was to take a lamb without blemish and slaughter it on a certain day. They were to take the blood of the lamb and put it on the doorposts and lintel of their houses. They were then to eat the lamb roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. When the angel of death saw the blood on their doorposts it would pass over their home leaving them all alive. John s gospel tells us that Jesus was crucified the day before Passover, at the time the paschal lamb was slain. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul refers to Christ as our paschal lamb who has been sacrificed. At the last supper when Jesus said This is my body which is given for you and This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you this was an allusion to the Passover lamb. It was Jesus saying that his death is the fulfilment of the Passover. Just as the blood of the first Passover lamb protected the firstborn of Israel from death, so Jesus blood protects us from eternal death. Putting belief into practice When we grasp the power of the cross means for us, to save and transform us, it should motivate us in love to share this with others. A deep understanding of the cross must result in a deep hunger for evangelism. Lifestyle commitment 8: I will be faithful to the purposes for which God raised up The Salvation Army, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, endeavouring to win others to Him, and in his name caring for the needy and the disadvantaged. Go for souls Evangelism is the heart and soul of Salvationism. William Booth was relentless in his pursuit of the salvation of every human being. There was no one too far outside the kingdom that they could not be brought in. Go for souls. Go straight for souls, and go for the worst he said. (N.B. in Booth s time, the word soul was used to refer to the whole person. This quote refers to saving whole persons). Booth was single minded in his task, everything else in life could take care of itself, because he saw his business as getting the world saved. To be a soldier in The Salvation Army is to join in that great fight. Just in case you don t feel called to evangelism, Booth has this to say: Not called! did you say? Not heard the call, I think you should say. Put your ear down to the bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonised heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father s house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world.
So how do we go about doing evangelism? What are some principles? Be ready to give an answer 1 Peter 3:15-16 instructs us, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (TNIV). This provides us with two useful principles, firstly always be prepared to explain why you believe what you believe. If someone asks you a question, you don t want to waste the opportunity because you don t know what to say. So be educated in the fundamentals of the faith, so that if asked you can provide a good answer. Secondly, these verses talk about how we should share that answer, with gentleness and respect. If you are harsh with someone or disrespectful when you share with them about Jesus the response will not be good. Keep your conscience clear that you have spoken appropriately. Peter reminds us that we will still likely be slandered, but if we have spoken with gentleness and respect, then those who say nasty things about us will be ashamed of what they have said. Preach the gospel you will at some point have to explain what Jesus did for us and why that is good news when you are evangelising. To do this you should have a clear understanding of the meaning of the atonement. Study what the bible has to say about what Jesus did for us so that when you have the opportunity you can explain clearly why someone should become a Christian. As we discussed earlier, there are a few different ways that the bible explains what Jesus did for us. Learn about the different atonement theories and then pick the one that you think will resonate best with the person you are talking to. For example, the penal substitution theory which presupposes that God the Father had to have his Son killed in order to be able to forgive us, might not be the best angle to take with someone who had an abusive father. That person might respond better to the story of the Prodigal Son and seeing the love of the Father in that parable. Share a testimony the thing that most people really want to know about Christianity is whether it makes a real difference in our lives. This is why non-christians are sticklers about Christian hypocrisy; they want to see that what we preach is worked out in our lives. So share some stories: what difference has the gospel made in your life? What was life like for you before Christ saved you? What is it like now? Don t also be afraid to be open about areas in your life that are still a work in progress. It is better to be humble and authentic than to pretend that we have it all sorted out and that we are now perfect and sinless. That kind of dishonesty will lead nowhere good. Either you will be immediately rejected, or if the person does come to faith they may become disillusioned and fall away if they don t see the amazing perfect results that you professed. It is better to be honest about the fact that salvation is a lifelong journey, and that we grow in holiness over time.
Go to the people it might seem obvious, but in order to share the gospel with the unsaved you need to spend time with the unsaved. Once we become Christians it can be easy for our whole lives to be taken up with church activities and church friends. This can be great for us, but it is counterproductive to evangelism. So we need to cultivate friendships with people who don t know Jesus. Join your local sports team, hang out with the other parents at the preschool, run for council, integrate yourself as much as possible in your local community building real relationships. We talked about this in module 4, Incarnational mission. You might want to go back over that section to refresh your memory.