‘Atonement’ is a big and multifaceted concept. In Christian theology it means ‘the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus Christ.’1Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary app version 2.3.0 (294), Apple Inc. This paragraph is additional to the original 1999 statement.
To that end, the Father sent the Son to free us from the dominion of sin and Satan, and to make us God’s children and friends.
All we bring to the transaction is our need of it.
The Transaction
Jesus paid our penalty in our place on his cross, satisfying the retributive demands of divine justice by shedding his blood in sacrifice, and so making possible justification for all who trust in him (Rom 3:2-26). Justification is God’s declaration that we are now, because of Jesus, righteous in his sight (Rom 4:1-8).
The Bible describes this mighty substitutionary transaction as the achieving of ransom, reconciliation, redemption, propitiation, and conquest of evil powers (Matt 20:28; 2 Cor 5:18-21; Rom 3:23-25; John 12:31; Col 2:15).
It secures for us a restored relationship with God that brings pardon and peace, acceptance and access, and adoption into God’s family (Col 1:20; 2:13-14; Rom 5:1-2; Gal 4:4-7; 1 Pet 3:18).
And the faith to which the gospel calls us is a trustful outgoing of our hearts to lay hold of these promised and proffered benefits.
The gospel further proclaims the bodily resurrection, ascension and enthronement of Jesus as evidence of three things: the efficacy of his once-for-all sacrifice for us, the reality of his present personal ministry to us, and the certainty of his future return to glorify us (1 Cor 15; Heb 1:1-4; 4:14-16; 7:1-10:25).
In the life of faith as the gospel presents it, believers are united with their risen Lord, communing with him, looking to him in repentance and hope for empowering through the Holy Spirit — so that henceforth they may not sin but serve him truly.
A Decisive Transition
God’s justification of those who trust him is a decisive transition, here and now, from a state of condemnation and wrath because of their sins, to one of acceptance and favour by virtue of Jesus’ flawless obedience culminating in his voluntary sin-bearing death.
God ‘justifies the wicked’ — the ungodly (Rom 4:5) — by imputing righteousness to them: reckoning, crediting, counting, accounting it to them, and ceasing to count their sins against them (Rom 4:1-8).
Sinners receive through faith in Christ alone ‘the gift of righteousness’ (Rom 1:17; 5:17; Phil 3:9), and thus become ‘the righteousness of God’ in him who was ‘made sin’ for them (2 Cor 5:21).
Here’s the exchange, stated as plainly as it can be. As our sins were reckoned to Christ, so Christ’s righteousness is reckoned to us. That is justification by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.
All we bring to the transaction is our need of it.
Even the Faith Is a Gift
Our faith in the God who bestows it — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — is itself the fruit of God’s grace.
Faith links us savingly to Jesus. But inasmuch as it involves an acknowledgment that we have no merit of our own, it is confessedly not a meritorious work.
That distinction does real work. If faith were a contribution, we’d be back to earning something. It isn’t. It’s the empty hand that receives.
The gospel assures us that all who have entrusted their lives to Jesus Christ are born-again children of God (John 1:12) — indwelt, empowered, and assured of their status and hope by the Holy Spirit (Rom 7:6; 8:9-17).
The moment we truly believe in Christ, the Father declares us righteous in him and begins conforming us to his likeness.
Genuine faith acknowledges and depends upon Jesus as Lord, and shows itself in growing obedience to the divine commands — though this contributes nothing to the ground of our justification (James 2:14-26; Heb 6:1-12).
Note the balance there carefully. Obedience follows genuine faith and demonstrates it. Obedience does not ground justification. Both halves need saying.
Growing Up
By his sanctifying grace, Christ works within us through faith, renewing our fallen nature and leading us to real maturity — that measure of development meant by ‘the fullness of Christ’ (Eph 4:13).
The gospel calls us to live as obedient servants of Christ and as his emissaries in the world: doing justice, loving mercy, helping all in need, and so seeking to bear witness to the kingdom of Christ.
At death, Christ takes the believer to himself (Phil 1:21) for unimaginable joy in the ceaseless worship of God (Rev 22:1-5).
Three Tenses of Rescue
Salvation in its full sense is from the guilt of sin in the past, the power of sin in the present, and the presence of sin in the future.
So while believers enjoy salvation now in foretaste, they still await its fullness (Mark 14:61-62; Heb 9:28).
Salvation is a Trinitarian reality — initiated by the Father, implemented by the Son, applied by the Holy Spirit.
And it has a global dimension, because God’s plan is to save believers out of every tribe and tongue (Rev 5:9) to be his church: a new humanity, the people of God, the body and bride of Christ, and the community of the Holy Spirit.
All the heirs of final salvation are called here and now to serve their Lord and each other in love, to share in the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings, and to work together to make Christ known to the whole world.
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- 1Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary app version 2.3.0 (294), Apple Inc. This paragraph is additional to the original 1999 statement. ↩︎