Category Archives: Atonement

John Newton on the extent of the atonement

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I find myself drawn, a little reluctantly, to consider the disputed issue of the extent of the atonement.  I say ‘a little reluctantly’, because while, on the one hand, I agree that thinking Christians should pursue truth as far as Scripture leads, on the other hand I am not persuaded that the question can be fully resolved in this life, and I fear lest we seek to be wise beyond what is written.

The issue, for me, does not involve Arminian or Hyper-Calvinistic tenets (both of which are, to my mind, clearly lopsided). …

Extent of the atonement – a head count

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To be sure, we do not establish the truth or falsity of a doctrine by the number or names of those who support it.  Nevertheless, David L. Allen’s outline of ‘notable representatives’ of the four main views provides a helpful map.

I refrain from defining these four positions here, because to do so would require more space, nuancing, and qualification than is possible at this time.

My own tentative additions to Allen’s list are marked with an *asterix.…

Doctrinal tensions

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In the course of a helpful summary and discussion of John Owen’s treatise on The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (a celebrated work defending the doctrine of particular atonement), Andrew David Naselli offers, in tabular form, a reminder of the tensions that surround several significant doctrines:-

In a footnote, Naselli adds: inspiration, prayer, evangelism, and progressive sanctification.

I’m a fan of systematic theology (which is, after all, essentially an attempt to determine what Scripture as whole teaches on a given topic). …

Matthew 27:46/Mark 15:34 – ‘Why have you forsaken me?’

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Mark 15:34 ‘At the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”‘

Six hours after he was nailed to his cross, the dying Jesus shouted out these awesome words.

The cry is also recorded in Matthew 27:46.  Mark’s quotation from Psa 22:1 is in Aramaic; Matthew’s mainly in Hebrew.

The difficulty of this saying

According to Hard Sayings of the Bible,

‘this is the hardest of all the hard sayings.

…

The Day the Revolution Began

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I’ve been going through Tom Wright’s important new book The Day the Revolution Began: Rethinking the Meaning of Jesus’ Crucifixion (SPCK, 2016) with a fine tooth-comb.  Here I offer a synopsis of what I think Wright is saying.

Part One: Introduction

1. A Vitally Important Scandal

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Can guilt be transferred?

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How can it be possible for guilt to be transferred from one person to another?  How can it be possible for Jesus Christ, the sinless one, to bear away the guilt of me, a sinner?

In his book Scandalous Don Carson reminds us of an illustration that is quite often used by preachers: a judge pronounces a guilty sentence on a criminal.  Then he steps down from the bench, takes off his robes, and takes the person’s place in prison or writes out a cheque to cover the fine.…

Atonement – a many-faceted diamond

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Contributors to Trevin Wax’s blog have recently been writing about some of the aspects of Christ’s atoning work:-

On the cross, Christ

  • slays the dragon and wins our victory
  • offers himself up as our substitute, drinking from the cup of God’s wrath
  • redeems us from slavery to sin and death
  • is the Lamb who takes away all our sin and shame
  • sets us free to serve God with unfettered joy
  • shows how God is with us in our suffering
  • is the propitiation that puts us right with God
  • provides our supreme example

No one image (let’s not call them theories, please!)…

Must God punish sin?

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Few Christians are willing to do any sustained thinking about sin.  Of course, evangelical preachers will mention it from time to time.  After all, they need to convince their hearers that they are ‘sound’.  But they will feel under intense pressure from those same hearers to move quickly and as smoothly as possible from anything to do with sin and judgment to a positive and uplifting message about God’s love.

The fact is, that for most modern Christians the doctrine of the love of God has become the one great ‘givens’, the unargued and unarguable axiom. …

Mt 27:11-25; 33-54 – On trial – sermon notes

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Note: this short message was delivered in two parts during the course of an all-age service.  The service was held on Palm Sunday, but the Anglican lectionary set this passage, covering the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, and I was anxious to try to do something worthwhile with it within the time (2 x 6 minutes) available to me.

Text: Matthew 27:11-25; 33-54

1.

This is, of course, the most famous trial in history. And it’s obvious who is on trial here.…

Substutionary atonement: a note to preachers

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Critics of the doctrine of penal substitution, as well as a number of its more thoughtful supporters, have commented that the illustrations of it that preachers use are often misleading or even inept.

Tom Smail, for example, says that the story of ‘the judge who pronounces sentence on the criminal and then divests himself of his robe, comes down from his judgement seat and says, “I will bear this punishment in your place” is, in terms of justice, a quite scandalous story.’…