The long standing reformed view of the historical FACT of Christs penal substitutionary atonement (propitiation) is coming under attack today from many sides: not only from the Catholic Church, but also pseudo liberal Protestant and neo-evangelical groups and various and sundry Christian cults around the world -all of whom try to undermine it in one way or another. Sometimes the theological nuances involved can be very subtle indeed, and deceptive. Most Christian believers, of course, have little or no understanding of the significance of this doctrine and just how vital it is, and why it is being attacked. Let me just say that without it, we have no gospel. It is solely on the basis of Christs ACTUAL atonement (satisfaction) for sins that we (as genuine believers) are even in a position to receive the Fathers forgiveness. For by it, we are legally exonerated. The reason: Christs own righteousness is imputed to us, making us blameless and holy in the Fathers sight because His own holy wrath against sin has been fully satisfied in Christs death -an act performed outside us (2Cor5:21). Only in light of Christs atonement, then, is it possible for us to be justified by faith (Rom1:16,17). Christ who IS our righteousness in the present (1Cor1:30) means absolutely nothing without His first having dealt with the sin issue -historically- in the past. And without that objective truth, our hope of a resurrection in the future becomes a false one. You cant de-emphasize the penal substitutionary aspect of the atonement without undermining the entire gospel. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1John4:10)
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 03:03:31 +0000
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