IF we would investigate the very doctrine of Atonement which God’s Word sets forth, — avoiding arbitrary and capricious speculations, and illegitimate and useless trains of thought,—it must be laid down at the outset, as a proposition of transcendent importance, That the Doctrine of the Atonement ought to be discussed and defended as inside the [...]
The Atonement
The Terminology of the Atonement by R. A. Finlayson
The Latin dramatist Horace has given a rule of dramatic art to which John Calvin refers in our present context. It is that a god must not be introduced into the action unless the plot has got into such a tangle that only a god can unravel it. That is our apologia for thrusting a [...]
Agorazo in 2 Peter 2:1 by Jim Ellis
I was stimulated to do a little study on the meaning of the Greek word agorazo (translated bought) in 2 Peter 2:1 by a chapter in Tom Wells recent book, A Price for a People. The purpose of Wells book is to review and comment on some issues regarding the nature and extent of Christ’s [...]
Expitiation – A Sermon (No. 561) by Charles H. Spurgeon
‘Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.‘ – Isaiah 53:10. Both Jews and Gentiles knew pretty well what an offering for sin meant. The Gentiles had been in the habit of offering sacrifices. The Jews, however, had by far the clearer idea of it. And what was meant by a sin-offering? Undoubtedly, it [...]
Nature of Christ’s Sacrifice by R. L. Dabney
There is no safer clue for the student through this perplexed subject, than to take this proposition; which, to every Calvinist, is nearly as indisputable as a truism; Christ’s design in His vicarious work was to effectuate exactly what it does effectuate, and all that it effectuates, in its subsequent proclamation. This is but saying [...]
The Atonement by John Owen
The following selection is part of Owen’s discussion of chapter 20 of Thomas More’s The Universality of God’s Free Grace. It is one of the finest statements anywhere of the doctrine of limited atonement. Owen takes almost every conceivable objection to the doctrine and convincingly refutes it from Scripture. He discusses such objections as these: [...]
The Atonement by John Murray
Atonement is the term that has come to be widely used to denote the substitutionary work of Christ which culminated in the sacrifice of Calvary. The term occurs frequently in the A.V. of the Old Testament as the rendering of the Hebrew root kaphar but only once in the New Testament (Rom. 5:11) where it [...]
The Atonement by J. Gresham Machen
‘For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse; for It Is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law to do them.’ But that in the law no one is justified with God is clear, because ‘the [...]
The Atonement: Was the Sin Question Finally Settled at the Cross? by Arthur W. Pink
It is unspeakably sad that the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ-the most wonderful event that has ever happened or will happen-should have been made the occasion of contention and controversy. That it has been so, affords an awful example of human depravity. The more so, that throughout the centuries of this Christian era, [...]
The Nature of the Atonement by John Murray
In dealing with the nature of the atonement it is well to try to discover some comprehensive category under which the various aspects of Biblical teaching may be subsumed. The more specific categories in terms of which the Scripture sets forth the atoning work of Christ are sacrifice, propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption. But we may properly ask [...]
The Doctrine of the Atonement – Part I by J. Gresham Machen
THE priestly work of Christ, or at least that part of it in which He offered Himself up as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God, is commonly called the atonement, and the doctrine which sets it forth is commonly called the doctrine of the atonement. That doctrine is at the [...]
The Doctrine of the Atonement – Part II (The Active Obedience of Christ) by J. Gresham Machen
LAST Sunday afternoon, in outlining the Biblical teaching about the work of Christ in satisfying for us the claims of God’s law, I said nothing about one very important part of that work. I pointed out that Christ by His death in our stead on the cross paid the just penalty of our sin, but [...]
The Doctrine of the Atonement – Part III (The Bible and the Cross) by J. Gresham Machen
HAVING observed last week what are the leading views that have been held regarding the cross of Christ, we turn now to the Bible in order to discover which of these views is right. Did Jesus on the cross really take our place, paying the penalty of God’s law which justly rested upon us? That [...]
The Atonement of Jesus Christ – Part I by Brian Schwertley
Introduction The most important and significant event in history was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Most people know that Jesus was crucified almost 2,000 years ago in Palestine. Many people even have a vague idea regarding the meaning of Christ’s death. They know it has something to do with salvation. But, when people are questioned [...]
The Atonement of Jesus Christ – Part II by Brian Schwertley
Chapter 2 The Nature of the Atonement The section on the necessity of the atonement dealt primarily with the question: Why did Jesus have to suffer and die a bloody death to redeem the elect? The answer (as noted above) arose out of God’s nature and man’s predicament. When we examine the nature of the [...]
The Atonement of Jesus Christ – Part III by Brian Schwertley
Appendix An Examination of How Judaism Denies the Vicarious Atonement of Jesus Christ In order to help Christians understand Judaism and therefore witness to Jews more effectively, an examination of their doctrine of atonement is necessary. Before we examine how religious Jews deal with sin and guilt a few things must be said about Judaism [...]
The Atonement by Loraine Boettner
The two great objectives to be accomplished by Jesus Christ in His mission to this world were, first, the removal of the curse under which mankind labored as a result of the disobedience and fall, and second, the restoration of men to the image and fellowship of God. Both of these were essential to salvation. [...]
The Atonement – The Significance of Christ’s Death by Loraine Boettner
If we compare the manner in which the service of the world’s greatest men have been rendered, and that in which Christ’s work of redemption was rendered, we are immediately impressed with an outstanding contrast. While the service of men is rendered during their lifetime, and while Christ too, for that matter, lived a life [...]
The Atonement – The Satisfaction View of the Atonement by Loraine Boettner
Before we can have any adequate understanding or appreciation of the work that Christ has done for us it is necessary that we know something of the nature and effect of sin in the human soul. In substance the Bible tells us that sin is open and defiant rebellion against the law of God. There [...]
The Atonement – The Active and Passive Obedience of Christ by Loraine Boettner
We have said that the two great objectives to be accomplished by Christ in His mission to this world are, first, the removal of the curse under which His people labored as a result of the fall, and second, their restoration to the image and fellowship of God. It is perfectly evident that both of [...]
The Atonement – Christ As Our Ransomer by Loraine Boettner
In numerous places in Scripture Christ’s work of redemption is declared to have been accomplished through the payment of a ransom. Nowhere is this set forth more clearly than in our Lord’s own teaching. ‘The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for [...]
The Atonement – The Representative Principle by Loraine Boettner
We have said that at the beginning of the race Adam stood not only for himself but as the federal head and representative of the entire human race which was to follow, and that Christ in His turn in both His active and passive obedience stood for all of those who were to be saved. [...]
