The Threefold Office

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Christ as Prophet

1. How does Christ fulfill the office of prophet, especially in terms of his relationship to Moses and Elijah in the Gospels?
Exodus 7:1–2 NASB95
Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. “You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land.
Deuteronomy 18:15 NASB95
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
Acts 3:18–26 NASB95
“But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

The coming prophet whom Moses prefigured and prophesied will also bring about a new state of affairs through his words and deeds. There was a common expectation in Jesus’ day that Elijah would return to restore Israel, and there are explicit echoes of both Moses’ founding and Elijah’s renewal in Jesus’ ministry.

As Moses engaged in sea crossings and wilderness feedings, so did Jesus. As Elijah healed people and brought a virtually dead child back to life and multiplied food, so did Jesus.… With all these clear parallels to Moses and Elijah, it is no surprise at all when Mark relates that people generally believed Jesus was a prophetic figure—either John the Baptist raised from the dead or Elijah or “a prophet like one of the prophets of old” (6:14–16; 8:27–28)—and that Jesus refers to himself as a prophet (6:4)

Like the Old Testament prophets (especially Isaiah and Jeremiah, in their judgment of the false prophets and priests who lead Yahweh’s people astray), Jesus arraigns Israel at the heart of its identity. In the upper room, as he celebrates the Passover and institutes his Supper, Jesus assumes the role of the greater Moses leading his people in the greater exodus. “Like Ezekiel, Jesus predicts that the Temple will be abandoned by the Shekinah, left unprotected to its fate. Like Jeremiah, Jesus constantly runs the risk of being called a traitor to Israel’s national aspirations, while claiming all along that he nevertheless is the true spokesman for the covenant god.” Thus, he is tried as a false prophet

Christ as Priest

Discuss Christ’s office of priest in redemptive-historical perspective. How does he fulfill this office in his life, even prior to his crucifixion?

Originating in the eternal covenant of redemption between the persons of the Godhead, Christ’s priestly ministry is inseparable from his role as mediator of the p 487 elect. Chosen in Christ before time, the elect are redeemed by Christ and called into union with Christ by the Spirit

Ephesians 1:4–8 NASB95
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight
Galatians 4:4–5 NASB95
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Jesus’ appointment as High Priest is attributed in the New Testament to a higher and older order already prophesied in the Old Testament: the Melchizedek priesthood, after the priest-king whom Abram recognized as his Lord in Ge 14:18–20 (cf. Ps 110:4).

Hebrews 7:11–13 NASB95
Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.
Hebrews 7:18–22 NASB95
For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind, You are a priest forever’ ”); so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
Heb

Christ’s Obedience

What is the difference between Christ’s active and passive obedience?

Jesus’ entire life, however, was an extension of this trial of Adam in the garden and Israel in the wilderness. Peter’s attempt to distract Jesus from bearing his cross obediently was met with the sharpest rebuke: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man”

Not just the absence of sin, but the total positive obedience in thought, word, deed, and motivation rendered Jesus Christ both a perfect offering for sin (guilt offering) and a fragrant “living sacrifice” of praise (thank offering). He not only died for us; he lived for us, obedient even unto death but not only in his death, obedient throughout his life of service to his Father’s Word and will. On this basis he will lead his people into the consummation. But before he ascends, he must descend to the depths.

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way B. Christ’s Priestly Death: The Meaning of the Cross

For good reason it has been suggested that the Gospels are passion narratives with long introductions. When we abstract Christ’s vicarious sacrifice from the long introduction, we lose our proper focus on that event. At the same time, none of the other important aspects of Christ’s saving work—his active obedience, conquest over the powers, vindication of his just government, and moral example—can be established unless his death is understood as a vicarious substitution of himself in the place of sinners.

Jeremiah 30:12–13 NASB95
“For thus says the Lord, ‘Your wound is incurable And your injury is serious. ‘There is no one to plead your cause; No healing for your sore, No recovery for you.
Exodus 24:1–8 NASB95
Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. “Moses alone, however, shall come near to the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.” Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Ex
Jeremiah 31:31–34 NASB95
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

The New Testament sees these Old Testament sacrifices as prefiguring Christ’s work—not only his death and resurrection but his faithful life, as shadow is related to the substance or type to fulfillment (Col 2:17; Heb 9:23–24; 10:1; 13:11–12; 2 Co 5:21; Gal 3:13; 1 Jn 1:7). The Christian claim is that Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” the scapegoat caught in the thicket (Jn 1:29), “our Passover” (1 Co 5:7; 1 Pe 1:19).

The Error

Is Christ’s death properly interpreted as a penal substitution? Does this idea arise naturally from the history of redemption, or is it an abstract theory? What about “propitiation”? Is this a biblical concept, or is it unworthy of a God of love?
Identify a single attribute of God as most definitive of God than other attributes: Love.
This necessarily has a chilling or cooling effect for other attributes: righteousness and wrath.
This mindset changes the way man looks at the cross.
No long is Calvary viewed as God pouring wrath out on his Son that should have been poured out on us.
Add to these errors, the errors of libertarian free-will, the new legalism of social justice, and Jesus becomes the exemplar martyr.
Redemption is now in our own hands. We redeem ourselves by recognizing and following the example of Christ to our own metaphorical cross.
Take up your cross and follow me all the way to reparations and homosexual celebration. Die to your self-righteous religious traditions.
The life of Christ becomes one big metaphor for liberal propaganda.
The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way b. Conquering Liberator: Victory over the Powers

Sacrificial, judicial, and economic images of Christ’s atoning work combine with those of the battlefield. Christ’s cross is a military conquest. Christ is King not only in his resurrection and ascension but already at the cross—precisely at the place where Satan and his principalities and powers of death thought that they had triumphed. The event that in the eyes of the world appears to display God’s weakness and the failure of Jesus to establish his kingdom is actually God’s mightiest deed in all of history.

Theories of the Atonement

Recapitulation Theory

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 2. Systematic Theology: Theories of the Atonement

Associated especially with Irenaeus and Eastern theology, this view underscores Christ’s life as well as death as undoing humanity’s collective transgression, replacing Adam’s headship over the human race with his own. This view also emphasizes immortality as the supreme gift of Christ’s saving work.

Ranson Theory

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 2. Systematic Theology: Theories of the Atonement

Also known as the “classic” theory (because of its association with Origen and other early Alexandrian theologians), this view held that Christ’s death was a ransom paid to Satan for the ownership of humanity

Christus Victor

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 2. Systematic Theology: Theories of the Atonement

A key aspect of atonement theology especially in the East (as well as in Lutheran and Reformed teaching), this theory emphasizes Christ’s victory over the powers of death and hell at the cross.

Satisfaction Theory

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 2. Systematic Theology: Theories of the Atonement

Associated especially with the eleventh-century theologian Anselm, this view understands Christ’s atonement primarily as an appeasement of God’s offended dignity. Reformation theologies focus on the satisfaction of divine justice.

Moral Influence Theory

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 2. Systematic Theology: Theories of the Atonement

This view interprets the atonement as a demonstration of God’s love rather than as a satisfaction either of God’s dignity or his justice. The effect of the atonement is to provide a moving example of God’s love that will induce sinners to repentance. This view is associated with Abelard (1079–1142), has been held by Socinians and some Arminians, and has been the central idea in Protestant liberalism.

Moral Government Theory

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 2. Systematic Theology: Theories of the Atonement

According to this view, Christ’s atonement exhibits God’s just government of the world and thereby establishes repentance as the basis on which human beings approach God. It was formulated in Arminian theology, especially by Hugo Grotius (1583–1645).

Integrate the various biblical motifs of Christ’s cross, and evaluate the various theories of the atonement in that light. Is there more to Christ’s death than his vicarious substitution? If so, how is this sacrificial aspect of his work essential for the other motifs and theories to carry any validity?
The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 3. Responding to Contemporary Criticism of Substitutionary Atonement

The doctrine of substitution has encountered repeated objections throughout history. According to the Socinians, moral debts cannot be paid by one party on behalf of another

It is contrary to God’s righteousness
It is contrary to the nature of sin
It is contrary to reality
It is contrary to the divine nature
The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 3. Responding to Contemporary Criticism of Substitutionary Atonement

All of these objections share at least three assumptions that have been challenged above, namely, (1) a denial of God’s wrath and the necessity of his justice being fully satisfied by Christ’s death, (2) a rejection of the principle of substitution in this relationship between God and sinners, and (3) an emphasis on the exemplary character of Christ’s death as inciting human love and obedience rather than on its expiatory character as providing the sole basis for our acceptance before God.

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 3. Responding to Contemporary Criticism of Substitutionary Atonement

However, in a therapeutic worldview, the whole purpose of religion is to improve our sense of well-being rather than to address the situation of sinners before the judgment of a holy God.

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 3. Responding to Contemporary Criticism of Substitutionary Atonement

First, we can conclude on the basis of the texts we have considered that the cause of the atonement lies in God’s own pleasure (Isa 53:10) and love (Jn 3:16).

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 3. Responding to Contemporary Criticism of Substitutionary Atonement

Second, sin is not represented simply as a weakness that could be reformed, but as guilt incurred, invoking sanctions (1 Jn 3:4; Ro 2:25–27).

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 3. Responding to Contemporary Criticism of Substitutionary Atonement

Third, the atonement is grounded not only in God’s moral character and freedom but in the united determination of the persons of the Trinity. The covenant of redemption emphasizes this point, as we have seen.

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 3. Responding to Contemporary Criticism of Substitutionary Atonement

Fourth, because his active obedience is just as essential to his redeeming work as his passive obedience, Christ’s sacrifice is not only a guilt offering but a thank offering, a whole life of representative service.

The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way 3. Responding to Contemporary Criticism of Substitutionary Atonement

Christ’s p 513 penal substitution is not the whole of Christ’s work, but without it nothing else matters.

Not even the resurrection!
What is the extent of Christ’s atonement, and how does this relate to its nature?
Universalism - The atonement is unlimited in both its extent and its effect. Christ saved every person.

Thesis

Extent and Nature

Position

Christ saved every person

Unlimited in extent and effect

Universal salvation

Christ made possible the salvation of every person

Unlimited in extent, but limited in effect

Hypothetical universalism

Christ saved all the elect

Sufficient for all, efficient for the elect

Definite atonement

Hypothetical universalism - The atonement is unlimited in its extent, but limited in its effect. Christ made possible the salvation of every person.
Definite atonement - The atonement is sufficient for the salvation of all, but efficient only for the elect. Christ saved all the elect.
Matthew 1:21 NASB95
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
John 17:9 NASB95
“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
John 17:20 NASB95
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
John Owen in his Death of Death in the Death of Christ:
Christ died for all the sins of all men: universalism. Everyone saved.
Christ died for most of the sins of all men: No one is saved.
Christ died for all the sins of some men: definite atonement. Some men are saved.
Christ not only died for the benefits of salvation we experience in being regenerated. He also died in order to make us willing to believe, hence effecting salvation through faith in his name. Christ died so that the grace necessary to believe the gospel would be dispensed to the elect.
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