Berean Todd said:
PK, do you believe that Christ's death on the cross was the penal substitution for our sins? If not what is your view of the atonement?
A good definition I have used before is, "The atonement is the work Christ did in His life and death to earn our salvation."
The atonement was necessary because:
A. God so loved the world. (John 3:16)
He so loved the world that He sent His Son as a sacrifice to bear the wrath of God, so that men who would put their trust in God's sacrifice would not have to bear that wrath themselves for all eternity in hell. The Bible says that Christ was sent as a propitiation for our sins and to "prove t the present time that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies him who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:26)
B. Mankind has sinned and broken his relationship with God. Because of sin, man's standing before God is condemnation. Notice the following from John 3:
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
The default position before a person gets saved is they are condemned to die and spend an eternity apart from God in hell. This is called condemnation.
Now to your question:
Berean Todd said:
do you believe that Christ's death on the cross was the penal substitution for our sins?
Yes. Christ paid the penalty for our sins, and He substituted Himself in our place! He paid the FULL penalty for our sins!
Romans 8:1
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
The divine blood of Christ washes away our sins!
Romans 1:18-19
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
1 John 4:9-10
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Before Christ, we are slaves to sin and slaves to Satan!
1 John 5:19
19 We know that we are of God, and
the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
John 8:44
44 You are of
your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Romans 6:17
17 But God be thanked that though you were
slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
Was the atonement limited?
My belief is that God desires all men to be saved, and that salvation is a free gift to all men. God paid the penalty on the cross for the sins of MANKIND and whosoever will come can realize the benefits of this great and glorious sacrifice.
John 1:29
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
2 Corinthians 5:15-21
15 and
He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Notice there is a strong qualifier in there. Only IF anyone is in Christ has he become a new creation and therefore qualifies for the atonement that God offers to all men!
In this next verse, notice how wicked false teachers are also said to be denying the "Lord who bought them"!!
2 Peter 2:1
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,
even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
There is no doubt from this text it is not talking about Christians, in fact it is talking about non-Christians. But Christ's death still bought them. Does that mean they are saved? Not in the least! It just shows us that Christ's atoning death paid the penalty for all men!
Salvation is a free gift!
It's easy as pie to understand if you just simply think of it in terms of the free gift that it is. If I buy a box of cookies for every family that lives on my street, I have bought a box of cookies for every family on my street. Right? That means that as I walk down the street every family on the street must accept the box or I didn't buy boxes for every family on the street? NO! Those who reject the box of cookies are rejecting the free gift that I bought for them! It still doesn't negate the fact that I bought it for them!
John 4:10
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew
the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Romans 5:15
15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Corinthians 9:15
15 Thanks be to God for His
indescribable gift!
Salvation is a free gift that can be accepted or rejected. If it is accepted one is saved and reaps the benefits of it. If it is rejected then one cannot be saved and will not see the benefits from it. It is really that simple to understand.
I hope that helps and God bless!
