Page 17 - TH200 Abundant Life A4 Final

The Background of Salvation

perfect justice and divine love was accomplished. People were set free
from the power and guilt of sin and restored to fellowship with God.

In order to show clearly the necessity of the atonement, let’s examine the
Scriptures on this point. We see first that God’s holiness cannot overlook sin
or leave the guilty unpunished (Exodus 34:6–7; Romans 3:25–26); sin must
be covered and cancelled. God’s law, which reflects His very nature, made
it necessary for Him to require resolution for sin (Deuteronomy 27:26).
In addition, the truthfulness of God requires atonement (Numbers 23:19;
Romans 3:4). God had said clearly to Adam and Eve that they would die
if they disobeyed His commandments (compare Genesis 2:16–17 with
Ezekiel 18:4 and Romans 6:23). God’s truthfulness demanded that He
uphold His word, and it required that this penalty be carried out on either the
offenders or their substitute. Finally, the great cost of the sacrifice indicates
that the atonement was necessary. Surely God would not have required the
death of His Son unnecessarily (Luke 24:26; Hebrews 2:10; 9:22–23).

The Biblical Doctrine of the Atonement

The Bible notes that man fell into sin because of disobedience
(Genesis 3:17), and that Christ by obedience in the sinner’s place paid the
penalty, which the sinner had brought upon himself (Romans 5:12–19).
These references show that Christ died as our substitute—He died in
our place. His sacrifice for sins enables God to look upon us with favor.
We refer to His act of paying the penalty for our sins and dying as our
substitute as penal substitution.

The biblical teaching on the atonement rests on the penal substitution
of Christ, as Isaiah 53:4–6 clearly prophesies:

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

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