THE ATONING ...

Before the atonement, there must be an imputation. The sins of all God's people were imputed or counted or legally charged to Jesus Christ on the cross. This was typified in the Old Testament in the sacrifice of atonement. (See Leviticus 16 for an example.) In Isa_53:4-5, we see Christ bearing the transgression of His people. The sins of His people were imputed to Him. Jesus Christ actually became guilty by imputation. He remained perfect in His character and conduct, but He was counted guilty because sin was imputed to Him. 2Co_5:21 says that Jesus Christ was actually made sin for us.If Christ atoned without imputation, then He must have either atoned for no one or atoned for Himself. We know that both of these are impossible. In order to make atonement, Christ must be the substitute and representative of a certain number of people.What is ATONEMENT? It is reconciliation. What does it mean to reconcile? It means "to restore to friendship or harmony." Jesus Christ, when He suffered, bled, and died, restored friendship between God and those for whom Christ died. How was this friendship restored? Jesus suffered the just punishment for the sins of all His people; God's wrath was poured out on Jesus; and God's wrath was appeased. See Rom_5:10-11; 2Co_5:18-19; Eph_2:14-16.The Bible uses other words to describe what Christ accomplished on the cross:Propitiation. To propitiate means to appease or to pacify. Christ appeased or pacified God's wrath when the sins of His people were imputed to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ became sin for His people and incurred the judgment for that sin. There is no fellowship with God when there is sin. Why is that? It is because God is righteous. Righteousness is the opposite of sinfulness. In order for God to fellowship with sinners, the sin of those sinners must be punished in a substitute who is a man who is totally without sin. The only one who qualifies for that is Jesus Christ. Christ took on the sins of His people, God punished Christ for those sins, and God was pacified. God was at peace, not at war.Redemption. To redeem means to pay the price for a possession so as to rescue or deliver that possession. Ransom is another word that is used. Christ's blood paid the price for His people's sins and bought them as his very own. What did His people do to make themselves into God's own possession? Absolutely nothing. It is Christ alone who paid the price. We had nothing to pay. Nothing that we ever did or were enabled to do would pay the price. It is only through the blood of Christ. See Act_20:28; Eph_1:7; Col_1:14; 1Pe_1:18-19; Rev_5:9.

BLOOD

Why is BLOOD a necessary part of the gospel?Lev_17:11 says that the life is in the BLOOD, and it is the BLOOD that makes atonement. Heb_9:22 says that there is no remission without the shedding of BLOOD. Remission means "a releasing of the guilt or penalty of." Notice here that it does not just say "blood"; it says "SHEDDING of blood." This blood actually has to be shed for remission. Why? First, think about what Lev_17:11 says. The life is in the blood. Thus, the shedding of blood is the pouring out of one's life. We know that if someone loses too much blood, he will die. Christ's shed blood means that Christ died. But is that all it means? We know that people die of things other than shedding too much blood. So why did Christ have to die a bloody death? Why did blood have to come out of His body? Read Heb_9:12-21. First, the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled and poured - mostly sprinkled. So Christ's shed blood is one of the evidences that He was sacrificed. But there is more. What did this sprinkling signify? Heb_9:19-20 refer to Exo_24:8. This blood was sprinkled as an outward, visible seal to the people. It was an outward, visible seal of God's promise. The shed blood of Christ is an outward, visible seal of God's promise to save His people. Heb_13:20 says that Christ's blood is the "blood of the everlasting covenant." And 1Co_11:25 says that the cup in the Lord's Supper is the New Covenant in Christ's blood.Another reason that the blood of Christ must be shed is because it is a giving from one to another. Christ gave His blood, which was His life, to His people. Blood that stays inside a human cannot be given to another. It cannot be sprinkled onto another. Christ did not keep His blood to Himself. He sprinkled our hearts from an evil conscience, as Heb_10:22 says. He washed our sins by His blood, as Rev_1:5 says. His blood cleanses us from all sin, as 1Jo_1:7 says. This sprinkling is a purging; it is a cleansing. Christ gave up His own blood - His own life - so that we might be cleansed by that blood.In the New Testament, we see in Eph_2:13 that Christ's blood made us come to be near because of that reconciliation. We see in Colossians 1:20 that Christ's blood makes peace and reconciles.

AND IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST

The first imputation is the imputation of the sins of Christ's people to Christ, making Christ legally guilty. The second imputation is the IMPUTATION of Christ's RIGHTEOUSNESS to His people, making us legally righteous.Again, if imputation is to occur, there must be representation. Jesus Christ must be a representative of a people.

What is the RIGHTEOUSNESS that is imputed to Christ's people? It is perfect obedience, or one could say, the merit of perfect obedience. Why is perfect obedience necessary? Why can't God accept just the best someone has to offer? It is because God is holy. And if you understand God's holiness, you will understand that God cannot fellowship with anyone who is not as righteous as He is. So in order for any human being to fellowship with God, that human being must either be perfectly righteous in his own character and conduct, or he must be charged with the perfect righteousness of another human being who is perfectly righteous in his character and conduct. In either case, there has to be at least one perfect human being! That eliminates everyone but Jesus Christ. The following are some Scripture verses that show that Christ was sinless: 1Jo_3:5; 2Co_5:21; Heb_4:15; Heb_7:26-28.Not only was Jesus Christ totally sinless; He was a totally sinless man. Jesus Christ was fully human. Mat_1:25, Luk_2:7, and Gal_4:4 clearly show that he was born of a woman. Matthew and Luke say that he was a child and grew up, just like any of us. Jesus got hungry and thirsty and tired and sleepy, just like any of us. In fact, 1Jo_4:3 says that anyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. Jesus came in the flesh, a flesh just like ours, and had all the same bodily needs that we do. Yet, unlike any of us, He did all this without sin. And it had to be this way, or else there would be no imputed righteousness. Christ also had to be a human because a human must be punished for the sins of humans. Just as Christ was our representative and substitute in His life, He was our representative and substitute in His death. And since sin demands death, and God cannot die, Jesus Christ had to be a human who could and did die. He had to be a human who could and did pour out His blood. He had to be a human who could and did rise again from the dead, giving resurrection life to us. The humanity of Christ is an essential gospel doctrine.But not only was Jesus Christ human, He was also God. And He had to be God. He had to be God because only God can forgive sin. Only God can deliver us from the power of sin and death. Only God is without sin. Only God can satisfy His own justice. And only God can sanctify the offering. We see in Mat_1:18-20 and Luk_1:35 that Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Holy Spirit. We see in Isa_7:14 and Luk_1:34 that Jesus Christ's mother had not had sexual relations with any man before He was born. Isa_9:6 says that Jesus Christ is "the mighty God." Joh_1:1 and Joh_1:14 says that the Word was God and became flesh and dwelled among us. Tit_2:13 says that Jesus Christ is our great God and Savior. Jesus said in Joh_10:30 that He and God the Father are one. Joh_1:14 and Joh_1:18, Joh_3:16 and Joh_3:18, Heb_1:5, Heb_5:5, Heb_11:17, and 1Jo_4:9 say that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. And 1Jo_4:15 says that whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God is regenerate. The deity of Christ is an essential gospel doctrine.Jesus Christ had to be a God-man. He had to be one person with two distinct natures: a divine nature and a human nature. He had to be both of these at once because He had to be the Mediator between God and men - the only One who could go between them. 1Ti_2:5 says that Christ Jesus is the only Mediator. Who can make peace between Holy God and sinful man? Only a God-man Mediator.

... ALONE

God saves His people conditioned on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Christ ALONE. There are so many false gospels out there that say "the work of Christ - PLUS" or "the blood of Christ - PLUS." But if a PLUS is added to the equation, then it is no longer the true gospel of grace. The atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Christ must demand the salvation of all whom He represented without any contribution from the sinner. Rom_4:4 and Rom_11:6 show that if salvation is conditioned in any way to any degree on the works of the sinner, then God is not showing grace; instead, the sinner has obligated God to save him. God would owe a debt to that sinner. And that god is an idol. Grace is not really grace if the works of the sinner are introduced as forming any part of the ground of his salvation. If someone conditions any part of salvation, from regeneration to final glory, on anything that proceeds from the sinner, then what they call "grace" is actually no grace at all. It is a system of works, and it is an abomination to God. In Gal_5:2, Paul says that if one is circumcised thinking that this forms at least some part of the ground of his salvation or acceptance before God, Christ will profit him nothing. It is Christ's work alone that is the ground of all salvation and all blessing.Those who believe in universal atonement do not believe that it is the work of Christ alone that makes the difference between salvation and damnation. Instead, they believe that it is the work of the sinner that makes the difference. These people do not believe the gospel.Why is it that God's people cannot lose their salvation? Because no one can undo what Christ has done. If one believes that he can lose his salvation, he does not believe in the finished work of Christ. If one believes that he cannot lose his salvation yet also believes that his everlasting habitations are based on his present stewardship, he does not believe in the finished work of Christ. Our works form no part of our initial salvation, our being kept saved, our being blessed, our being recommended unto God, or our right to inherit the kingdom.Read Joh_19:28-30. It is finished!

There is no work for the sinner to do for salvation! To say that there is still work for the sinner to do for salvation would be to say, "It is not finished" and to call the blessed Lord Jesus a liar. But we who are Christ's people, Christ's sheep, Christ's church - those who have been given by God the Father to God the Son, for whom Jesus led a perfect life and died on the cross - we know that it is finished. We have a Sabbath rest, as Hebrews 4 says, because God has caused us to rest from our works and to trust in Jesus Christ ALONE for ALL of our salvation.The gospel is GOOD NEWS. It is a PROMISE that can never fail. It is a promise from God to save His people conditioned on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Christ alone. This atoning blood and imputed righteousness DEMANDS the justification, sanctification, and glorification of ALL whom Christ represented. Jesus Christ finished the work. That is the gospel.

Do you believe it?