Skeleton of Theology: Lecture 37

Skeleton of Theology: Lecture 37

SKELETONS OF A COURSE OF

THEOLOGICAL LECTURES

BY THE

REV. CHAS. G. FINNEY    

Lecture XXXVII.

Atonement.–No. 3.

What Constitutes The Atonement.

In this lecture I will show:

First. Not Christ’s obedience to law as a covenant of works.

Second. That his sufferings, and especially his death, constitutes the Atonement.

Third. That his taking human nature and obeying unto death, under such circumstances, constituted a good reason for our being treated as righteous.

Fourth The nature and kind of his sufferings.

Fifth. The amount of his sufferings.

Sixth. That the Atonement is not a commercial transaction.

Seventh. That the Atonement is to be regarded as a satisfaction of public justice.

First. Christ’s obedience to the moral law, as a covenant of works, did not constitute the Atonement.

1. Christ owed obedience to the moral law both as God and man. He was under as much obligation to be perfectly benevolent as any moral creature is. It was therefore impossible for him to perform any works of supererogation; that is, so far as obedience to law was concerned, he could, neither as God, nor as man, do any thing more than his duty.

2. Had he obeyed for us, he would not have suffered for us. If his obedience was to be substituted for our obedience, he need not certainly have both fulfilled the law for us, as our substitute under a covenant of works, and at the same time have suffered, a substitute for the penalty of the law.

3. If he obeyed the law as our substitute, then why should our own personal obedience be insisted upon as a sine qua non of our salvation.

4. The idea that any part of the Atonement consisted in Christ’s obeying the law for us, and in our stead and behalf; represents God as requiring:

(1.) The obedience of our substitute.

(2.) The same suffering as if no obedience had been rendered.

(3.) Our repentance.

(4.) Our personal obedience.

(5.) And then represents him as, after all, ascribing our salvation to grace. Strange grace this, that requires a debt to be paid several times over before the obligation is discharged!

Second. The sufferings of Christ, and especially his death, constituted the Atonement.

1. His sufferings were no part of them deserved by him. They must, therefore, have been vicarious or unjust. If they were vicarious, that is, voluntarily suffered by him as our substitute no injustice was done. But if they were not vicarious, he could not have suffered at all under the government of God, without injustice having been done him.

2. That his sufferings were vicarious, is manifest from the fact that they were all occasioned by the sins of men.

3. The Bible represents all his sufferings as for us.

Isaiah 53: ‘Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted; yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Hebrews 2:10. ‘For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.’

4. The Bible especially, and almost everywhere represents his death, or the shedding of his blood, as a vicarious offering for our sins. The texts which prove this are too numerous to be quoted in a skeleton.

5. Perhaps his other sufferings are to be regarded as incidental to the work he had undertaken, and fitted to prepare him to sympathize with us, rather than as strictly vicarious.

Hebrews 2:17,18. ‘Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people: For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.’

Hebrews 4:15. ‘For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’

Third. His taking human nature, and obeying unto death, under such circumstances, constituted a good reason for our being treated as righteous.

1. It is a common practice in human governments, and one that is founded in the nature and laws of mind, to reward distinguished public service by conferring favours on the children of those who had rendered this service, and treating them as if they had rendered it themselves. This is both benevolent and wise. Its governmental importance, its wisdom and excellent influence have been most abundantly attested in the experience of nations.

2. As a governmental transaction, this same principle prevails, and for the same reason, under the government of God. All that are Christ’s children and belong to him, are received for his sake, treated with favour, and the rewards of the righteous are bestowed upon them for his sake. And the public service which he has rendered the universe by laying down his life for the support of the divine government, has rendered it eminently wise that all who are united to him by faith should be treated as righteous for his sake.

Fourth. The nature or kind of his sufferings.

1. His sufferings were not those of a sinner, neither in kind nor degree. The sufferings of a sinner must consist, in a great measure, in remorse. But Christ could not feel remorse, having never sinned.

2. He could not have endured the literal penalty of the law of God, for this we have seen in a former skeleton was eternal death.

3. He did not endure the displeasure of God. On the contrary, God expressly affirmed that he was his “beloved Son in whom he was well pleased.”

4. But a substitute for the curse due to sinners fell on him. In other words, he endured such sufferings, as our substitute, both in kind and degree, as fully to meet the demand of public justice.

Isaiah 53:4 12. ‘Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted; yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death: because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul and offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.’

Romans 4:25. ‘Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.’

2 Corinthians 5:21. ‘For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’

Hebrews 9:28. ‘So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many: and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time; without sin, unto salvation.’

1 Peter 2:24. ‘Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.’

5. His sufferings were those of a holy mind voluntarily submitted to, in support of law, under a dispensation of mercy.

Fifth. The amount of his sufferings.

1. He did not suffer all that was due to sinners on the ground of retributive justice. This was naturally impossible, as each sinner deserved eternal death.

2. Inflicting upon him this amount of suffering would have been unjust, as his sufferings were infinitely more valuable than the sufferings of sinners.

3. Therefore such an amount of suffering was wholly unnecessary in him.

4. Had he suffered the same amount that was due to sinners, nothing would have been gained to the universe by this substitution, and therefore the Atonement would have been unwise.

5. Neither wisdom nor enlightened benevolence could consent that an innocent being should suffer, as a substitute for a guilty one, the same amount that was justly due to the guilty.

6. We are no where informed, nor is it possible for us to know, or perhaps to conceive, the exact amount of Christ’s sufferings as a substitute for sinners. It is enough for us to know that his sufferings, both in kind and degree, were so ample a satisfaction to public justice as to render the universal offer of forgiveness to all the penitent consistent with the due administration of justice.

Sixth. The Atonement was not a commercial transaction.

Some have regarded the Atonement simply in the light of the payment of a debt; and have represented Christ as purchasing the elect of the Father and paying down the same amount of suffering in his own person that justice would have exacted of them. To this answer:

1. It is naturally impossible, as it would require that satisfaction should be made to retributive justice.

2. But as we have seen in a former lecture, retributive justice must have inflicted on them eternal death. To suppose, therefore, that Christ suffered in amount all that was due to the elect, is to suppose that he suffered an eternal punishment multiplied by the whole number of the elect.

Seventh. The Atonement of Christ was intended as a satisfaction of public justice.

1. Isaiah 53:10 12. ‘Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of His Soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Romans 3:24 26. ‘Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.’

2. Public justice requires:

(1.) That penalties shall be annexed to laws that are equal to the importance of the precept.

(2.) That when these penalties are incurred they shall be inflicted for the public good, as an expression of the law-giver’s regard to the law, of his determination to support public order, and by a due administration of justice to secure the highest well being of the public. As has been seen in a former lecture, a leading design of the sanctions of law is prevention; and the execution of penal exemptions is demanded by public justice. The great design of sanctions, both remuneratory and vindicatory, is to prevent disobedience and secure obedience or universal happiness. This is done by such a revelation of the heart of the law-giver, through the precept, sanctions, and execution of his laws, as to beget awe on the one hand, and the most entire confidence and love on the other.

3. Whatever can as effectually reveal God, make known his hatred to sin, his love of order, his determination to support government, and to promote the holiness and happiness of his creatures, as the execution of his law would do, is a full satisfaction of public justice.

4. Atonement is, therefore, a part, and a most influential part of moral government. It is an auxiliary to a strictly legal government. It does not take the place of the execution of law in such a sense as to exclude penal inflictions from the universe. The execution of law still holds a place and makes up an indispensable part of the great circle of motives essential to the perfection of moral government. Fallen angels and the finally impenitent of this world will receive the full execution of the penalty of the divine law. But Atonement is an expedient above law; not contrary to it, which adds new and vastly influential motives to induce obedience. I have said it is an auxiliary to law, adding to the precept and sanction of law an overpowering exhibition of love and compassion.

5. The Atonement is an illustrious exhibition of commutative justice, in which the government of God, by an act of infinite grace, commutes or substitutes the sufferings of Christ for the eternal damnation of sinners.

These various positions might be sustained by numerous quotations from scripture, but in this skeleton form they cannot conveniently be given; and besides, it is no part of any design to dispense with the necessity of your searching the Bible for the proof of these positions yourselves.

Return to Skeletons of Theology Contents Page