Necessity and nature of atonement

Brian Butcher

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Necessity and nature of atonement

Synopsis

Scripture stresses the seriousness and reality of human sin, and that human beings are unable to atone for their own sins. In his grace, God provides a means by which the situation can be remedied.

Atonement is necessary because of human sinfulness

Atonement is necessary because sin cuts people off from God

Is 59:2

Isaiah 59:2 (NLT) — 2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

See also Is 64:7; Eze 39:23; Hab 1:13; Jn 9:31

Isaiah 64:7 (NLT) — 7 Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.

Ezekiel 39:23 (NLT) — 23 The nations will then know why Israel was sent away to exile—it was punishment for sin, for they were unfaithful to their God. Therefore, I turned away from them and let their enemies destroy them.

Habakkuk 1:13 (NLT) — 13 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?

John 9:31 (NLT) — 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will.

Atonement is necessary because sin provokes God’s wrath

Eph 2:1–3

Ephesians 2:1–3 (NLT) — 1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

See also Ge 6:5–7; Ex 32:30–35; Ro 1:18–20; Ro 2:8

Genesis 6:5–7 (NLT) — 5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.”

Exodus 32:30–35 (NLT) — 30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin, but I will go back up to the Lord on the mountain. Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness for your sin.” 31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!” 33 But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you. And when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins.” 35 Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.

Romans 1:18–20 (NLT) — 18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Romans 2:8 (NLT) — 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.

God’s gracious nature is the basis for atonement

Atonement is grounded in God’s reluctance to punish sinners

Eze 18:32

Ezekiel 18:32 (NLT) — 32 I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!

See also Eze 33:11; 1 Ti 2:1–4; 2 Pe 3:9

Ezekiel 33:11 (NLT) — 11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

1 Timothy 2:1–4 (NLT) — 1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

2 Peter 3:9 (NLT) — 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Atonement is grounded in God’s readiness to forgive sin

Ex 34:6–7 The punishment of subsequent generations makes God’s abhorrence of sin quite clear, but the extension of his love and forgiveness “to thousands” puts the emphasis in these verses on God’s grace and compassion.

Exodus 34:6–7 (NLT) — 6 The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. 7 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected— even children in the third and fourth generations.”

See also Ex 30:10; Nu 15:22–26

Exodus 30:10 (NLT) — 10 “Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by smearing its horns with blood from the offering made to purify the people from their sin. This will be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the Lord’s most holy altar.”

Numbers 15:22–26 (NLT) — 22 “But suppose you unintentionally fail to carry out all these commands that the Lord has given you through Moses. 23 And suppose your descendants in the future fail to do everything the Lord has commanded through Moses. 24 If the mistake was made unintentionally, and the community was unaware of it, the whole community must present a young bull for a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It must be offered along with its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering and with one male goat for a sin offering. 25 With it the priest will purify the whole community of Israel, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven. For it was an unintentional sin, and they have corrected it with their offerings to the Lord—the special gift and the sin offering. 26 The whole community of Israel will be forgiven, including the foreigners living among you, for all the people were involved in the sin.

God’s promised new covenant of forgiveness was fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s atoning death

Heb 10:16–17

Hebrews 10:16–17 (NLT) — 16 “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.”

See also Je 31:33–34; Mt 26:28; Heb 9:15; Heb 12:24

Jeremiah 31:33–34 (NLT) — 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

Matthew 26:28 (NLT) — 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

Hebrews 9:15 (NLT) — 15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

Hebrews 12:24 (NLT) — 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.

Images used to portray the at-one-ment, or restored relationship, between God and humanity

Atonement as forgiveness of sins

Eph 1:7–8

Ephesians 1:7–8 (NLT) — 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

See also Le 19:22; Ac 13:38; Col 2:13–14

Leviticus 19:22 (NLT) — 22 The priest will then purify him before the Lord with the ram of the guilt offering, and the man’s sin will be forgiven.

Acts 13:38 (NLT) — 38 “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.

Colossians 2:13–14 (NLT) — 13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Atonement as cleansing and purification

Le 16:30

Leviticus 16:30 (NLT) — 30 On that day offerings of purification will be made for you, and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins.

See also Is 6:6–7; Tt 2:14; 1 Jn 1:7; Re 7:14

Isaiah 6:6–7 (NLT) — 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

Titus 2:14 (NLT) — 14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

1 John 1:7 (NLT) — 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Revelation 7:14 (NLT) — 14 And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

Atonement as reconciliation

2 Co 5:19

2 Corinthians 5:19 (NLT) — 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.