Speaking of the nature of the atonement, paragraph 5 says: “The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of God …” The first word the Confession uses to describe the nature of the atonement is “obedience.” Obedience is really the comprehensive category under which the atonement must be understood. If this surprises you, you should remember how often the Scripture itself speaks of the work of Christ as atonement. In the great Old Testament passage predicting His work, He is presented as a “servant.” What does a servant do? He renders obedience.
How often does the New Testament speak of this?
Matt 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Rom 5:18-19 … through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
John’s Gospel says that Christ came to do God’s will. This is his “work;” and this work is obedience. John 6:38-40 is just one of many texts: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life …”
Remember Phil 2:7-9: “… taking the form of a bond-servant … He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him.”
Heb 5:8-9: “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation”
Hebrews 10:9-10: “then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Two perspectives on this obedience must be pointed out. We must view Christ’s obedience as active and passive. This distinction is found in the Confession at 11:1 where speaking of justification it says that this is “by imputing Christs active obedience unto the whole Law, and passive obedience in his death, for their whole and sole Righteousness.”
Christ’s obedience is called “one act of righteousness” (Rom 5:18). This speaks of His active obedience. But it is inseparable from His passive obedience. Philippians 2:8 speaks of this: “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
The description of Christ’s atoning work as obedience is a powerful argument for the necessity of double imputation and the active obedience of Christ in a day in which both are widely denied. Who that says that justification is merely or only forgiveness would ever describe Christ’s work as obedience?
A major category under which the Confession pictures Christ’s atonement is that of sacrifice: “The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God …” Scripture everywhere says Christ’s work was sacrifice, but what notion governs sacrifice? Murray: Old Testament sacrifices were basically expiatory …. The notion in essence was that the sin of the offerer was imputed to the offering and the offering bore as a result the death-penalty.
Heb 13:11-12 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
The next category is “satisfaction” which may also be called “propitiation.” This category deserves treatment by itself. I will deal with it in the next podcast.
Reconciliation is the third image.The crucial point here is that reconciliation is two-sided. It means the reconciliation not only of man to God, but of God to man. Murray: “The cause of alienation is, of course, our sin, but the alienation consists not only in our unholy enmity against God but also in God’s holy alienation from us.”
The key passage here is Romans 5:1-11. It teaches that the primary issue which the atonement addresses is the wrath of God. Thus, it results in peace with God (v. 1) Thus, also in verses 8-11 the cross of Christ reconciles us to God before we are even born by satisfying His wrath.
Rom 5:9-11 … having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Redemption is the 4th major image. Murray: The language of redemption is the language of purchase and more specifically of ransom. And ransom is the securing of release by the payment of a price. The key text is Matt 20:28 Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Matt 20:28 makes three truths clear. 1—Christ came to accomplish a work of ransom. 2—Giving His life was the ransom price. 3—This ransom was substitutionary.
Redemption, reconciliation, satisfaction, and sacrifice—these are the four major images through which the Bible pictures for us the obedience and atonement of Christ.
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
