[gview file=”https://www.knotmaking.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/03_SLJ_modified_calvinism.pdf”]Context
This chapter is closely tied to Chapter 8 on “Sin” and Chapter 9 on “Jesus Christ.” Chapter 8 addressed the core issue of how ‘bad’ off are we in the sight of God because of sin. (Short answer: real bad, mortally bad; I invite you to link back to that study as a reminder).
Chapter 9 then logically followed Chapter 8 by examining Who was–namely, The Person of–Jesus Christ. Again, it may be useful now to link back to that study.
Now in Chapter 10 we are looking at the Work of Jesus Christ, specifically His Work of “Atonement.”
In our popular culture all three of these interrelated subjects have been greatly corrupted led by The Enemy and willingly, even joyfully, followed by our fallen natures. The first corruption is that “sin” is not all bad, or even so bad, or even not “bad” at all; and after all, God is sort of like Santa a silly, foolish old codger who always just caves in to his jolly nature and passes out candy instead of coal when the time comes.
This is followed logically enough by the corruption as to the issue of who was Jesus. Given, under such fatally flawed reasoning that sin is not so bad, then Jesus need not be particularly, distinctively “good.” It’s fine that he was a kind, well-meaning, god-oriented person as that is a useful example for us and can be the subject of recurring sermons about us doing ever better on our own walks toward holiness. Like Jesus himself, such reasoning provides that, we can all make this walk into God’s ever increasing favor.
And, subsequently, given that sin is not so bad, and Jesus is not actually the unique and substitutionary God-man, then the ‘work’ that he did was not much more than a fine example for us, a way-shower, kind of like Daniel Boone establishing a way in the wilderness.
Of course, none of these pop culture / mainstream ‘religious’ perspectives on sin, Christ, and now the Atonement are consistent with the Bible’s clear teaching. And such error is both colossal in scope and significance.
Chapter 10: The Atonement
Turning now to this Chapter 10 subject of the Atonement, we will examine this primary Work of Jesus Christ. It is a Work that only He could have done, and but for such Work there would be no rescue from the awful consequences of sin.
In the attached outline Christian Beliefs, Grudem, Ch 10 we will look at Grudem’s chapter on the Atonement supplemented by a further, though necessarily limited, exploration of this vastly important subject.
In the above cited outline I make mention of a particularly interesting and gifted teacher, the late Dr. S. Lewis Johnson. I had a brief personal association with Dr. Johnson as a ‘regular’ in his multi-month Monday night teaching on the Atonement while attending Believer’s Chapel in Dallas in the early 1970s. I then understood only a little of what he walked us through and even now more than 40 years later can hardly grasp the full significance of Christ’s atoning work. It’s going to take an eternity of God’s direct intervention for me, and likely all of us, to fully ‘get this;’ Dr. Lewis is there now, taking notes on his beloved 3 by 5 index cards, waiting for us so he can conduct his next class on the subject. (It will be, literally, wonder-full).
Below are two links to Dr. Lewis’s teaching. The first is to a website established by his students that collects many resources including audio tapes of Dr. Lewis: SLJInstitute.net . By searching for “atonement” on the website you will find abundant resources, including opportunities to listen to his mellifluous Alabama-accented voice. The particular message he gave that I have cited in my Outline is available here and a pdf of that message is here:
Another resource for Dr. Lewis is sermon archive of Believers’ Chapel, a church in Dallas where Dr. Lewis taught (along with many other gifted teachers) for many years. The home page of Believers’ Chapel is here. Their Sermon Archive for Dr. Johnson is here.
Ligonier, as usual, has very insightful information. Here is their page, distinguishing Propitiation and Expiation.
Two other online resources that provide useful additional background on the Atonement are here and here. I do not personally know the individuals making these postings but the pages linked appear sound and useful.