Am I Saved 2
Al Krummenacher

Am I Saved 2

                                                  Links
                        <<   Home   >>   <<  Am I Saved Menu   >>

                      Am I Saved? Class 2 Text

Christian Soteriology

Doctrine of Salvation

Atonement Perspectives

Atonement refers to the belief that Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection reconciled humanity with God, making amends for human sin, and restoring our broken relationship with God. Salvation is the end result of Christ’s atoning work.

Atonement Perspectives are attempts to answer the question: Why did Christ have to die for our sins?

Read This

“The central Christian belief is that Christ’s death has somehow put us right with God and given us a fresh start. Theories as to how it did this are another matter. A good many different theories have been held as to how it works; what all Christians agreed upon is that it works.”

                       C.S. Lewis.        "Mere Christianity"

Perspective on Christ’s Atonement

u A Ransom for Sin

u Christ the Victor

u Recapitulation (Second Adam)

u Legal Satisfaction

u Propitiation: Sacrificial Fulfillment

u Moral Influence

u Kenosis (Self-Emptying)

Ransom Perspective

u Humanity was held captive by Satan (or Sin & Death) until Jesus’ death served as a ransom payment to release us.

u Key Figure: Origen of Alexandria (185-254 CE)

u Key Bible Passage: Matthew 20:26-28

Matthew 20:26-28

It shall not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be the first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Christus Victor Perspective

u Christ has defeated the powers of evil in spiritual warfare, setting humans free from our bondage to sin, as evidenced by Jesus’ resurrection.

u Key Figure: Gustaf Aulen (1879-1977) Swiss Theologian

u Key Bible Passage: Romans 15:54-57; 2 Corinthians 2:13-15

Romans 15:54-57

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who give us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:13-15

And when you were dead in your trespasses and the circumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the ledger of our sins that stood against us, with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public display of them, triumphing over them in it.

Recapitulation (Second Adam)

u Jesus is the second “Adam”, reversing the effects of Adam’s sin and restoring humanity to its proper relationship with God.

u Key Figure: Irenaeus of Lyon (130-202 CE)

u Key Bible Passages: Romans 5:12-21;1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Romans 5: 12-21

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned . . . But the free gift is not like the trespass.

For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.

And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. . . Therefore, just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.”

Legal Satisfaction / Substitution

u Jesus bore the punishment for our sins, suffering in our stead, and satisfying the righteous demands of divine justice.

u Key Figure: Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109 CE)

u Key Bible Passages: Romans 3: 21-26; 2 Corinthians 5: 21; Galatians 3:13-14

Romans 3:21-26

For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us . . .

Propitiation / Sacrificial Substitution

u The death of Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice, fulfilling the demands of the Old Testament Law and the sacrificial system for the cleansing of sin.

u Key Figures:   Augustine of Hippo (354-430 )                                                          Jonathon Edwards (1703-1758)

u Key Bible Passages: Hebrews Chpts. 9-11;                                                            1Peter 1:18-21;                                                                        I John 2:1-2

Hebrews 9: 11-15

Now when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that we now have, he went into the greater and more perfect tabernacle (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation). He entered once and for all into the Holy Place, not by the blood of goats and calves; but by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, may sanctify those who have been defiled so that they are outwardly cleansed. How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from  actions that lead to death, so that we may worship the living God!

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance . . .

Hebrews 9: 27-28

And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgement, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly awaiting for him.

1 Peter 1: 18-21

You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

I John 2:1-2

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Moral Influence

u Jesus’ death demonstrates the depth of God’s love, inspiring humanity to repent and follow his example, leading to moral transformation.

u Key Figure: St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

u Key Bible Passages: Gospel of John 15:12-14;                                                                    1John 3:11-23

John 15:12-14

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

1 John 3:11-23

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another.

Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murders do not have eternal life abiding in them.

We know love by this, that he (Jesus) laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

How does God’s love abide in anyone who has worldly prosperity and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action . . . 

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

Kenosis (Self-Emptying)

u Jesus voluntarily renounced his own will and desires to obediently submit to God’s will. His act of perfect submission is imputed upon all of humanity, thereby re-establishing righteousness.

u Key Figure: G Thomassius (1802-1875)

u Key Bible Passage: Philippians 2: 5-11

Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, But emptied himself, And taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.Therefore, God also highly exalted him, and gave him the name that is above every name, So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And A Last Quote

“We are told that Christ was killed for us; that his death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ’s death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary . . .”

                                 C.S.Lewis