Introduction: 

What was the ultimate cause that led to Christ's coming to earth and dying for our sins? To find this we must trace the question back to something in the character of God himself. And here Scripture points to two things: the love and justice of God.

·                     The love of God as a cause of the atonement is seen in the most familiar passage in the Bible (John 3:16).  

·                     But the justice of God also required that God find a way that the penalty due to us for our sins would be paid (for God could not accept us into fellowship with himself unless the penalty was paid).

·                     Paul explains that this was why God sent Christ to be a “propitiation” (Rom. 3:25 NASB): it was "to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins" (Rom. 3:25).

Here Paul says that God had been forgiving sins in the Old Testament but no penalty had been paid--a fact that would make people wonder whether God was indeed just and ask how he could forgive sins without a penalty. No God who was truly just could do that, could he? Yet when God sent Christ to die and pay the penalty for our sins, “it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).

Therefore both the love and the justice of God were the ultimate cause of the atonement.  Which is more important?  Without the love of God, he would never have taken any steps to redeem us, yet without the justice of God, the specific requirement that Christ should earn our salvation by dying for our sins would not have been met. Both the love and the justice of God were equally important.

B.                  the necessity of the atonement

Was there any other way for God to save human beings than by sending his Son to die in our place?  Before answering this question, it is important to realize that it was not necessary for God to save any people at all. 

·                     When we appreciate that “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;” (2 Peter 2:4, NASB95), then we realize that God could also have chosen with perfect justice to have left us in our sins awaiting judgment. 

·                     He could have chosen to save no one, just as he did with the sinful angels. So in this sense the atonement was not absolutely necessary.

But once God, in his love, decided to save some human beings, then several passages in Scripture indicate that there was no other way for God to do this than through the death of his Son.

·                     In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus "went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”" (Matthew 26:39, NASB95)

·                     On the road to Emmaus "He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”" (Luke 24:25-26, NASB95)

Paul in Romans 3 also shows that if God were to be righteous, and still save people, he had to send Christ to pay the penalty for sins:

·                     "It was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26).

·                     The epistle to the Hebrews emphasizes that Christ had to suffer for our sins: "He had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation [lit. "propitiation'] for the sins of the people" (Heb. 2:17).

·                     The author of Hebrews also argues that since "it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:4), a better sacrifice is required (Heb. 9:23).

·                     Only the blood of Christ, that is, his death, would be able really to take away sins (Heb. 9:25-26). There was no other way for God to save us than for Christ to die in our place.

C.                  substitution

1.                  The Latin: In Latin the world vicarious mean in place of.

a)                  In The Old Testament, This Was Taught Typologically By:

(1)                 The offering of an animal sacrificed for sin, looking forward to that ultimate sacrifice for sin, Christ (Gen. 22:8).

(2)                 In Genesis 3:21, the Lord made garments of skin for Adam and his wife.

(3)                 In the New Testament, Christ is described as having died in the place of the Christian (Romans 5:8); of the church (Eph. 5:25), and of the world (Heb. 2:9).

(4)                 The concept of substitutionary death is illustrated by the offering of a ram in the place of Isaac (Gen. 22:13).  Though Abraham was willing to offer his son as requested, God was prepared to accept a substitute that He had provided.

(5)                 Application: Because Jesus died for everyone, Christians should take the message of the gospel to “every creature” (Mark 16:15).

b)                 The Death Of Christ Is “Vicarious” In The Sense That:

(1)               Christ is the Substitute who bears the punishment rightly due sinners, their guilt being imputed to Him in such a way that He representatively bore their punishment.

(2)               There are many passages that emphasize Christ’s substitutionary atonement in the place of mankind:

(a)                 Christ was a substitute in being made sin for others (2 Cor. 5:21)

(b)                He bore the sins of others in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24)

(c)                 He suffered once to bear the sins of others (Heb. 9:28)

(d)                He experienced horrible suffering, scourging, and death in place of sinners (Is.53:4–6).

c)                  The Pronouns In Isaiah 53 Stress The Substitutionary Nature Of Christ’s Death

"But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5, NASB95). 

1 Peter 2:24 is similarly the same "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." (1 Peter 2:24, NASB95)

d)                  We Ourselves Should Have This Concern For Others As Paul Did.

(1)                 Willing to be cursed for others salvation (Romans 9:3-4)

2.                  Matthew 20:28; 2 Corinthians 5:14; Romans 8:32.

In His incarnate role as the Son of Man, Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve (Phil.2:6-9).  Jesus’ ultimate act of servanthood, however, was to give His life. “Greater love has no one than this,” He said, “that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

3.                  Other Passages (John 10:11,15)

a)                  “for” (huper) it is a word with profound meaning when used with the death of Christ

(1)                 It does not mean that Christ died only as an example for us, showing us how we should be willing to die for the truth or for some great cause. What it means is that Christ died in our place, in our stead, in our room, as our substitute.

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”" (John 6:51, NKJV)

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." (John 10:11)

As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." (John 10:15, NKJV)

b)                  What Should Our Response To God Be? 

Living A Life of Sacrifice… A Sacrificial Life Is One of:

(1)                 Losing Your Life (Mark 8:34-38)

(2)                 Living Your Life for God (Romans 12:1-2; 2Cor.5:14-15)

(3)                 Servanthood—Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”" (Matthew 20:28, NASB95)

(4)                 Forgiveness—Therefore, Be imitators of God… and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." (Ephesians 5:1-2)

(5)                 Who Thinks Of Others (Esther 4:11-16).  By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 John 3:16)

(6)                 Jesus Says There Is No Greater Love (John 15:13; Romans 5:6-8).  Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8 NKJV)

(7)                 Jesus Asks Us, “Will you lay down your life for My Sake?” (John 13:36-38)

D.                  redemption

Finding its context in the social, legal, and religious customs of the ancient world, the metaphor of redemption includes the ideas of loosing from a bond, setting free from captivity or slavery, buying back something lost or sold, exchanging something in one’s possession for something possessed by another, and ransoming.

Redemption comes from one of six terms taken from the field of law and used in the New Testament in relation to salvation.

·                     Dikaioo and related terms referred to legal acquittal of a charge and are used theologically to speak of a sinner’s being vindicated, justified, and declared righteous before God (Rom. 3:4; 4:25; 5:18; 1 Tim. 3:16).

·                     Aphiemi basically means to send away and was used to indicate the legal repayment or cancellation of a debt or the granting of a pardon. It is used in Scripture to refer to God’s forgiveness of sin (Matt. 9:2; Rom. 4:7; Eph. 1:7; 4:32; etc.).

·                     Huiothesia referred to the legal process of adopting a child and is used by Paul to represent the believer’s adoption into God’s family (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5).

·                     Katallasso meant to legally reconcile two disputing parties in court and in the New Testament is used of a believer’s reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:8–20).

1.                  The Old Testament.   

a)                  Redemption involves deliverance from bondage based on the payment of a price by a redeemer.

(1)                 The verb form is a legal term concerning the substitution required for the person or animal delivered.

(2)                 It is also used in relation to legislation with regard to the firstborn. Every firstborn male, whether human or animal, belonged to Yahweh, therefore was to be offered to Yahweh.

(3)                 The firstborn males of ritually clean animals were sacrificed, while firstborn unclean animals were redeemed (Exod. 13:13; 34:20; Num. 18:15–16).

(4)               Human firstborn were also redeemed, either by the substitution of an animal or by the payment of a fixed sum (Num. 18:16).

(5)               The Levites are also said to be a ransom for the firstborn of Israel (Num. 3:44–45). Money was sometimes paid to deliver a person from death (Exod. 21:30; Num. 3:46–51; 18:16; cf. Ps. 49:7–9).

2.                  Agarzo & Exagarzo

a)                  These Two Greek Legal Terms Are Related To Redemption.

(1)               The source of the terms is agora, which means marketplace, and the root idea of the derived verbs and nouns referred to buying and trading in the marketplace.

(2)               In the New Testament they are used to denote spiritual purchase or redemption.

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—" (Galatians 3:13, NASB95)

"And they *sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." (Revelation 5:9, NASB95)

"And they *sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb." (Revelation 14:3-4, NASB95)

3.                  The Purchase Price

a)                  The Blood of Jesus Was Shed On Our Behalf!  The Blood of Jesus:

(1)                 is the New Covenant which is shed for many (Matthew 26:28)

(2)                 purchased the church of God (Acts 20:28), therefore glorify God in our bodies (1Cor.6:19)

(3)                 propitiated us (Romans 3:24–25), justifies us & saves us from the wrath of God

(4)                 reconciling us (Romans 5:8–11), redeemed us & giving us forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:5,7)

(5)                 makes us holy unto God (Heb. 13:12);

(6)                 give us fellowship with God & purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7)

(7)                 makes it possible for any man to come to God (Rev. 5:9)

(8)                 takes away our filthy robes of righteousness & gives us the righteousness of Christ (Revelation 7:14; Zechariah 3:1-5)

(9)                 gives us victory & makes us overcomers (Rev. 12:11)

(10)             frees us from our sins & makes us a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen (Revelation 1:5-6).

4.                  The Result of Redemption.

a)                  Redemptions Results In Us Being Slaves To God And His Will.

(1)                 Bondservants—The word means “slaves who belong to a master.” 

(a)                 This bond was so strong that only death could separate them. 

(b)                The slave served his master to the disregard of his own interests.  The slaves will was swallowed up in the will of his master.

(c)                 Paul Call’s Himself a “galley slave” – “The Underrowers” on the lowest level on a ship, was considered the lowest of the low and was a dangerous position.

(d)                A Table waiter – “minister” (1 Corinthians 3:5)

(2)                 The slave existed only for the purpose of service for his master & he had no other reason for existence… "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

(a)                 The slave of Jesus Christ is a position of honor:

(i)                   Christian believers are said to be the slaves of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:18; 1 Cor. 7:22; Eph. 6:6; Col. 4:12; 2 Tim. 2:24)  

(ii)                 This is to be our prayer daily, “Lord, not my will but your will be done.”

b)                  Redemption Results In Being Free To Serve The Lord.

(1)                 Old Testament (Exodus 21:1-6)

(2)                 New Testament (Romans 6:1-22)

c)                  Redemption Results In Us Being A Special Possession Of God (Titus 2:14)

(1)               Salvation Delivers Us Permanently From Sin’s Possession.

(a)                 The unregenerate person is in total bondage to sin. Paul asked believers in Rome, “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Rom. 6:16).

(b)                Because “we have become united with [Christ] in the likeness of His death,” he explains earlier in Romans, “certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (6:5–7).

(2)                 Redeem is from lutroo, which refers to the releasing of someone held captive, such as a prisoner or a slave, on receipt of a ransom payment.

(a)                 The word “captive” in  (2 Timothy 2:26) & the word “catch” in (Luke 5:10) are the same words in the Greek. 

E.                  reconciliation (romans 5:10-11)

To reconcile something is to make it compatible with something else; it is the process of bringing harmony between two or more things. Theologically speaking, reconciliation is the process by which God made sinful humankind compatible with Himself.

1.                  Reconciliation is God’s work from beginning to end (2  Corinthians 5:18-20).

a)                  The Sinner’s Reconciliation Is Initiated & Obtained On The Sinner’s Behalf Wholly By God.

(1)               The redeemed person contributes nothing of any merit whatsoever to the process. Paul says this clearly: “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ” (2 Cor. 5:18).

(2)               The relationship between God and the sinner is never restored because the sinner decides to change his ways and make amends with God.

(3)               No sinner could possibly do enough to satisfy the demands of God’s perfect righteousness.

(4)                 Sinners have no way to quench God’s righteous anger, no capacity to satisfy His holy justice, and no ability to meet His standard of absolute perfection.

(5)               Self-reformation is out of the question. Even if sinners could reform themselves, they could never pay the price to atone for wrongs already done. “Turning over a new leaf” cannot nullify sin already on the record.

(6)               Why does this truth deserve so much stress? Because many people have the misguided notion that reconciliation is something the sinner is supposed to accomplish by deciding to stop rejecting God.

b)                  The Means Or Method Of Reconciliation Is Christ’s Death (Colossians 1:19-22).

(1)               Through the atoning work of Christ, God Himself has accomplished what seemed impossible.

(2)               The enmity can be removed, the sin forgiven, and the fellowship restored—by God Himself, not by the sinner. That is what the gospel message proclaims.

(3)                 His Death and blood brought “peace” between God and humankind & removed the barrier brought about by our sinful behavior. Calvary reconciled us with God.

c)                  The Application Of Reconciliation

(1)                 We Are Ambassadors Of Christ (2Cor.5:20)

(2)                 We Have Access To God.  God has gone to great lengths to provide the potential for a lasting relationship with us. He initiated and paid for the entire process. Love for us motivated Him to come up with a plan. And that same love moved Him to sacrifice His Son along the way.

(3)               God Intensely Desires A Relationship With Us.  isn’t it sad that we take our freedom to talk with God so casually? Think about it. God has gone to all this trouble and pain to restore us to our intended position of privilege, and oftentimes we ignore Him—that is, until the bottom drops out. Then we come running.

(4)               Our Heavenly Father Paid A High Price To Provide Us With The Opportunity To Talk To Him.  A price that we could never have paid. It is an honor to be given access to the Creator. We should treat our esteemed position more seriously. We should come to Him more often. We should come to Him reverently.

F.                  propitiation

1.                  The Death of Christ on Calvary was a Propitiatory Sacrifice. 

a)                  Some Of The Translations Offered For This Phrase Are:

(1)                 “A wrath removing – propitiatory sacrifice”

(2)                 “To be a propitiation”

(3)                 “A sacrifice of atonement”

(4)                 “The mercy seat” (AV) a reference to the sacrifice made on the mercy seat at Passover.    

b)                  Propitiation Finds its Type in the Mercy Seat, that is, the Lid of the Ark (Romans 3:24-25)

(1)                 The context relates to the removal of Divine wrath as seen in Romans 1:18-3:20.  If there is no removal of divine wrath, the sinner is still under this wrath. 

(2)                 The word stresses the idea “To appease” or “To Satisfy”

(3)                 God said that man must approach Him through the sacrifice of an animal, through the shedding of blood:

“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22)

(4)                 The lid or the covering of the ark was sprinkled once a year with the blood of a perfect animal on the Day of Atonement (Ex,25:17,22; Lev.16:2,14-15).  This signified that the life of the people was being offered to God in the blood of the victim.

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17 NKJV)

Romans 3:24-26 that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

(5)                 God’s anger and wrath towards sin has been appeased, for those who have faith in the work Christ did on the cross (Heb 11:6).

(6)                 This means we are restored to favor with God (reconciled) and find acceptance (Eph 1:6).

(7)                 Paul, by applying this name to Christ in Rom. 3:25, assures us that Christ was the true mercy seat, the reality typified by the cover on the ark of the covenant (Heb. 9:5).

2.                  The Following Should Be Understood About Propitiation.

a)                  The Wrath Of God Resting Upon The Sinner.

(1)                 The emphasis is on the fact that the wrath of God rests upon the sinner, and the only way for the sinner to be saved is for this wrath to be removed. 

(2)                 God’s wrath resting upon the sinner, as well as a future wrath, is clearly taught in Scripture (John 3:36; Rom.1:18; 2:5, 8; 3:5, 9; 9:22; Eph.2:3; 5:6; Col.3:6; 1Thess.1:10; 2:16; 5:9; Rev.6:16-17; 11:18; 14:10; 16:19; 19:15; 20:11-15).

G.                 forgiveness

As a result of being made alive with Christ, believers have been forgiven of all their transgressions. The knowledge that all our sins have been forgiven brings great joy. “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” (Ps. 32:1).

1.                  Colossians 2:13-14

a)                  Certificate of debt literally means “something written with the hand,” or “an autograph.”

(1)                 It was used to refer to a certificate of indebtedness handwritten by the debtor in acknowledgment of his debt. Paul describes that certificate as consisting of decrees against us.

(2)                 decrees refers to the Mosaic law (cf. Eph. 2:15). All peoples (Including Gentiles, cf. Rom. 2:14–15) owe God a debt because they have violated His law.

(3)               The certificate was hostile to us, that is, it was enough to condemn us to judgment and hell, because “cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them” (Gal. 3:10).

(4)               canceled out means “to wipe off,” like erasing a blackboard. Ancient documents were commonly written either on papyrus, a paperlike material made from the bulrush plant, or vellum, which was made from an animal’s hide. The ink used then had no acid in it and did not soak into the writing material. Since the ink remained on the surface, it could be wiped off if the scribe wanted to reuse the material.

Paul says here that God has wiped off our certificate of debt, having nailed it to the cross. Not a trace of it remains to be held against us. Our forgiveness is complete.

b)                  The Characteristics Of God’s Forgiveness.

(1)               God’s Forgiveness is Gracious, It Is A Free Gift (Rom.3:24; Titus 3:4-7)

"But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7, NKJV)

(2)                 God’s Forgiveness is Complete (Eph.1:7; 1Jn. 2:12)

"I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake." (1 John 2:12, NKJV)

(3)                 God’s Forgiveness is Eager:

“Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23, NASB95)

"For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You." (Psalm 86:5, NASB95)

(4)                 God’s Forgiveness is Certain, because It Is Based On God’s Promise:

Paul says that God sent him to the Gentiles "to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’" (Acts 26:18, NASB95)

(5)                 God’s Forgiveness Is Unequaled:

"Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love." (Micah 7:18, NASB95)

(6)                 God’s Forgiveness Is Motivating (Matthew 18:23-35)

"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:32, NASB95)

2.                  Ephesians 1:7

a)                  The Scapegoat (Leviticus 16:7-10)

(1)               Redemption results in the forgiveness of sins.

(2)               forgiveness refers to pardon, or remission of penalty. It is a composite of two Greek words, apo, “from,” and hiemi, “to send.”

(3)               Because Christ redeemed us, God has sent away our sins; they will never be found again.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12).

“He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19).

, as did Paul in his prayer. And when we contemplate all He has done for us, how can we do any less than pray to be filled with the knowledge of His will?