The Problem

  • Man is enslaved by sin, a child of the devil, corrupt in his nature, & unable to satisfy God’s wrath. His relationship with God is broken.
  • God is a just God, and He cannot simply forgive man without a just basis. In order for God to forgive with integrity, there must be a perfect sacrifice for sin.
  • “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins” (Heb. 9:22). For a blood sacrifice to be acceptable to God, it had to be perfect and sinless.
  • Since all have sinned, man was incapable of providing the necessary sacrifice. All of his efforts fall short of God’s perfect holiness. ​

The Solution

  • God, in His love and mercy, chose to provide the sacrifice Himself. The Father sent His only begotten Son to pay the penalty (Jn. 3:16).  
  • In order for Christ to be the perfect, sinless sacrifice, He had to escape the sin nature by being conceived of the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin. On earth, Christ lived a sinless life.
  • Christ’s death on the cross provided atonement, or “at-one-ness” between God and man. It brought fallen mankind back into a right relationship with God. ​

Christ's Work on the Cross

  • The purpose of studying the atonement is to better understand the incredible scope of what Christ accomplished on the cross and how it affects our lives.
  1. Sacrificial — His death fulfilled the O.T. sacrificial law (Mt. 26:28; Jn. 1:29). The burnt offering (Lev. 1:4), sin and guilt offerings (Lev. 4:20, 7:7) and especially the sacrifices on The Day of Atonement (Lev. 16), foreshadowed Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. 
  2. Substitutionary — Christ took our place, and died on our behalf. He experienced what should have happened to us (2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Pet. 2:24). Since he suffered, we do not have to suffer the penalty of sin (Isa. 53:4-5).
  3. Universal — His death made salvation available to all humanity (Ro. 8:32; Titus 2:11; Jn. 3:16; Acts 10:34-35; 1 Jn. 2:2).
  4. Triumphal — Christ was victorious over evil and accomplished His mission (1Cor. 15:55-57).

Benefits of the Atonement

  1. Redemption — the buying or buying back. When we were slaves of sin, Jesus paid the price for our freedom (Eph. 1:7, Luke 1:74).
  2. Reconciliation -- the bringing together of two hostile parties. Man’s relationship with God, which was broken by sin, is restored. God’s wrath in propitiated Christ’s death. He offers peace (Eph. 2:13,16; Col. 1:20; Rom. 5:1,10).
  3. Justification — rightness. “Set straight.” This includes actual righteousness and being declared righteous in the sight of the law. He is released from all guilt and the penalty of sin (Ro. 5:1,9). Righteousness is both imparted and imputed. (3a) Impartation: God actually makes the believer righteous. God doesn’t ignore our sin and pretend we are righteous. Man is changed at the time of salvation. (3b) Imputation: God accepts the one whose faith is in Christ and His righteousness.  
  4. Adoption — believers become the sons of God, crying “Abba, Father” (Ro. 8:15; Jn. 1:12).
  5. Regeneration — man is a new creation; he is “born again,” “re-created” (Jn. 3:3, 1:12-13; Titus 3:5 ). He is imparted with Divine life, which is manifested in a radical change of nature and moral character.
  6. Sanctification — He makes man righteous and holy. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, man is able to live a life above sin. 

Exploring the Wesleyan Perspective

The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings (Acts 3:18), by the shedding of His blood (Ro. 5:8-10; Heb. 9:12), and by His meritous death on the cross (Eph. 2:13,16), made full atonement (Ro 5:11) for all sin, and that this atonement is the only ground for salvation (Acts 4:12; Eph. 1:7), being sufficient for every individual of Adam’s race (Jn. 3:16; 1 Jn. 2:2). The atonement…is efficacious…only when they repent and believe (Luke 24:47; Acts 16:30,31; 17:30).

Propitiation and Expiation

  • Propitiation describes the effect that Christ’s death had on God: it satisfied His wrath against sin (1Jn. 2:2, 4:10; Ro. 3:25).
  • Expiation describes the effect that Christ’s death had on man, the offender: it removed the offense itself and washed away the record of sin which was held against us.
  • “Christ’s death does change the attitude of God toward humanity (propitiation), not by appeasement, but because humanity is also changed (expiation) when Christ’s sacrifice is accepted by faith.”
  • These two concepts must be kept in balanced tension, lest we (1) undermine God’s wrath against sin, which was right and just, or (2) disregard the change which man must undergo.

A Right Relationship

  1. Atonement is centered on man’s relationship with God. God buys us back, sets us straight, restores our peace, and adopts us as His precious children.
  2. Even in the O.T., “justification was based not on proper observance of the Law, but on the intimate, interpersonal relationship between God and man.”
  3. “Righteousness is not a quality to be possessed; it is a relationship that is either present or absent.”
  4. In initial sanctification, a personal relationship is begun with the Spirit; in entire sanctification, He assumes a deeper level of control.
  5. Oswald Chambers said that “what Jesus Christ did on the Cross [was] switched the whole of the human race back into a right relationship with God…[and] made a way for every son of man to get into communion with God.”

Exploring the Wesleyan Perspective

 (1) Sacrificial                      
 (2) Substitutionary               (12) Expiation
 (3) Universal                               (13) Impartation
 (4) Triumphal                        (14) Imputation
 (5) Redemption                 (15) Atonement
(6) Reconciliation
(7) Justification
(8) Adoption
(9) Regeneration
(10) Sanctification