149. The Atonement: Christ's Saving Sacrifice

At the heart of the Gospel is the atonement: the saving work of Jesus Christ through His life, death and resurrection. The word atonement refers to God's work of reconciling sinful humanity to Himself. Everything that the Old Covenant foreshadowed found its fulfillment in Christ. As Paul writes:
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith."
(Romans 3:23–25)
These verses beautifully summarize the doctrine of the atonement. Every major aspect of God's saving work is found here: sin, grace, justification, redemption, propitiation, faith and Christ's sacrifice.
  1. All Have Sinned
    As we have seen in the previous articles, every human being has sinned and falls short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). Sin is anything that falls short of God's perfect holiness and purpose for humanity. No one can claim perfect righteousness before God. We are separated from Him not only because of the sins we commit but because humanity shares in the fallen condition brought about by Adam's disobedience.
  2. Sin Creates a Separation That We Cannot Repair
    God is infinitely holy, just and righteous. Even what we consider a "small" sin is contrary to His holiness because it falls short of His perfect goodness. Human effort, religious observance, moral living or good works cannot erase sin or restore communion with God. The problem is not merely that we break God's commandments, but that our very nature has been wounded by sin. Humanity cannot heal itself.
  3. God Himself Provides the Solution
    Because of His infinite love, God did not leave humanity in its fallen state. God became man in the Person of Jesus Christ. Living a perfectly obedient and sinless life, Christ freely offered Himself on the Cross for the salvation of the world. As Scripture says, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). By His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, Christ conquered sin, destroyed death and reconciled humanity to the Father.
  4. We Are Justified by Grace
    Romans teaches that we are "justified by His grace as a gift." Justification is God's gracious act of forgiving our sins, restoring us to communion with Him, and making us righteous through union with Christ. This is entirely the work of His grace and not something we earn or deserve. At the same time, justification is more than being declared righteous; through God's grace we begin a new life in Christ, being renewed and transformed by the Holy Spirit.
  5. Redemption: Christ Frees Humanity
    The word redemption refers to liberation through the payment of a ransom. Humanity had become enslaved to sin, death and the power of evil. Through His Cross and Resurrection, Christ paid the price that we could never pay ourselves. He delivered us from the dominion of sin and opened the way to eternal life.
  6. Propitiation: God's Justice and Mercy Meet at the Cross
    Paul says that Christ became our propitiation. Propitiation means that through Christ's sacrifice, God's righteous judgment against sin is fully addressed. It does not mean that the Father stopped loving humanity until Jesus changed His mind. Rather, it was the Father Himself who, out of love, sent His Son to offer the perfect sacrifice for our sins (John 3:16). At the Cross, God's justice is fully upheld while His mercy is poured out upon the world. The Cross reveals both God's absolute opposition/hatred to sin and His immeasurable love for humanity.
  7. Salvation Is a Gift
    Salvation is entirely God's gift. It cannot be purchased through money, pilgrimages, sacrifices, rituals or human effort. No amount of good works can earn forgiveness or make us worthy of God's grace. Christ has already accomplished everything necessary for our salvation through His once-for-all sacrifice on the Cross.
    This does not mean that good works are unimportant. The Christian life is one of love, obedience and holiness. Yet these are the fruits and evidence of God's grace at work within us. We do not perform good works to earn God's love; we perform them because we have already received His grace.
  8. Faith Receives the Gift
    How then do we receive this gift? The answer is faith. Faith is more than merely believing certain facts about Jesus. Faith is more than intellectual belief. It means trusting Him, repenting of our sins, entrusting our lives to Him and remaining FAITHFUL to Him. In the New Testament, faith is inseparable from repentance, baptism and a life of discipleship. Through faith we receive the grace Christ has won for us and are united to Him.
  9. The Cross Reveals God's Perfect Character
The Cross is the greatest revelation of God's character.
There we see:
His perfect justice, because sin is not ignored.
His perfect holiness, because evil is judged.
His perfect love, because Christ dies for sinners.
His perfect mercy, because forgiveness is freely offered.
His perfect truth, because God remains faithful to His promises.
His perfect righteousness, because Christ accomplishes what humanity could never accomplish.
At Calvary, justice and mercy meet without either being compromised.
An Illustration
One day, through reckless driving, you cause a serious accident and are brought before his court. The evidence is clear, and you are guilty.
Because your father is a just judge, he cannot ignore your offence or pretend that nothing happened. Justice must be done. He therefore pronounces the lawful sentence: a fine of $5,000.
You have no means of paying the penalty. No amount of pleading, good intentions, or promises to do better can remove your guilt or satisfy the demands of justice.
After the court proceedings are complete, your father steps down from the bench and, out of love, personally pays the entire fine on your behalf. Justice has been upheld, the penalty has been paid, and mercy has been shown. The law has not been ignored or set aside; rather, its demands have been fully satisfied at his own expense.
You did not earn this gift, nor could you ever repay it. It was given freely out of your father's love. All you could do was humbly receive it with gratitude and allow that mercy to transform the way you lived from that day forward.
In a far greater way, God is both the righteous Judge and our loving Creator. Humanity stood under the consequences of sin and could not rescue itself. Therefore, God Himself entered history in the Person of Jesus Christ. On the Cross, Christ willingly bore our sins, offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice and conquered death. Through Him, forgiveness, reconciliation and new life are freely offered to all who receive Him in faith.
The Good News
The atonement is the heart of the Gospel. Through Jesus Christ, God has done what humanity could never do for itself. Christ's sacrifice removes the barrier of sin, defeats death, restores communion with God and opens the way to eternal life.
This is the Good News of Jesus Christ and the centre of God's Divine Economy of salvation.