Atonement – The doctrine of Atonement is rooted in the Old Testament and is the foundation in Christian teaching for reconciliation
between God and man.
Atonement, as found in the Old Testament Scripture, is derived from the Hebrew word. kaphar (kaw-far')
(OT:3722 Strong’s number definition) primarily meaning to “cover”.
The doctrine of Atonement can only be understood in context
of other doctrinal teachings of the Scripture and are listed as follows: The doctrine of God, Man, Sin and Salvation.
1. God
– The Scriptures teach that God is holy and therefore can only dwell in a perfect environment. The Scriptures demonstrate that God
is Omnipresent but at the same time the Scriptures speak of God having dwelling places throughout history and in eternity. See: Rev.
4:8, 2 Cor 6:14-18, Ps.139:7-10, Jer. 23:23-24, 1 Cor. 3:16, Ps. 123:1, Num.5:3, Ex. 25:1-9, Acts
2. Man
- The Scriptures teach that man was created by God perfect and without fault and God dwelled and walked with man having a close
fellowship. See: Gen 2:4-9
3. Sin - The Scriptures also teach that man through his own will sinned against God and became less
then perfect therefore creating a break and rift in the relationship between God and man. Because of God’s holiness nature, sin forced
God to break the fellowship and closeness while at the same time putting man under the penalty of eternal death. See: Gen. 2:15-17,
Gen. 3.
Atonement is required because of these three doctrines. If man is to be reconciled back to fellowship with God and is
to be saved from Gods judgment of spiritual death, then atonement for sin is required. This leads us to the forth doctrine listed,
the doctrine of salvation.
4. Salvation – The salvation process as related to the doctrine of Atonement began with God’s plan
and was implemented through the Abrahamic covenant and was revealed to man personally by God through His chosen leaders and prophets,
then recorded in His Holy Scriptures (The Bible). Today we read of God’s plan starting in Leviticus chapter 16, giving man a temporary
atonement of man’s sins. His plan was the action of covering man’s sin with the blood of animal scarifies. (See: Ex. 30:10 and Liv.
In Jeremiah 31:30-34 God reveals a new convent by which man can receive
permanent atonement for sin through Jesus Christ the son of God. As foreshadowed, Jesus acting as high priest, perfect and holy, sacrificed
Himself through the shedding of His blood becomes man’s permanent atonement for man’s sin. Thus through the actions of Christ our
sin is covered by his blood providing reconciliation to God through Himself. See: Rom.
Election – In the New Testament the doctrine of election is formulated from the word “elect” (
The doctrine of election is built on two other doctrines:
1.) The sovereignty of God. Illustrated in (1 Tim 6:13-16) 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He will bring about at the proper time-- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords; 16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. (NAS)
2.) The depravity of man. Illustrated in (Rom 3:9-18.) 9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." 13 "Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving," "The poison of asps is under their lips"; 14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"; 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 Destruction and misery are in their paths, 17 And the path of peace have they not known."18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."(NAS)
Based on these two principles comes two views in church teaching:
1.) God saves man from his sin by Grace alone and is based on God’s sovereignty, holding the position that man has no capacity to save himself, to include not having the ability to have faith of his own. (See: Rom. Chapter 9.)
2.) God through Grace alone provides the way for salvation but man must make a choice of faith to complete the process. (See: 2 Peter 3:9, John 1:12, John 3:16.)
As a result of these positions, theology books and word tools tend to slant themselves toward one view or the other. Examples: read Christian Theology by Emery H. Bancroft and The Great Doctrine of the Bible by William Evans. Throughout this debate it is important to remember 2 Tim 2:14-15, 14 Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. (NAS)
Justification – The doctrine of Justification is based on two other biblical doctrines:
1.) The holiness of God. Found in the New Testament as (
2.) The fall of man. Illistraghted in Gen. Chapter 3, then ampliphied in Rom 5:18
18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. (NAS)
When putting both doctrinal principles together we have sinful man separated from a Holy God, which then requires justification or the process of reconciliation. Rom 5:10-11. 10 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. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (NAS)
What are the elements of justification or reconciliation?
A.) We are separated from God under the penalty of death as the Scriptures
states in Rom 6:
B.)The payment for this penalty is a blood sacrifice from a perfect being. See, 1 Peter 5:10, Heb. 7:26, Heb. 10:4. The Scriptures state in Heb 9:11-14. 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (NAS)
C.) Man must exercise repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus the Christ. Jesus said
in Luke 5:32: 32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (NAS) Dr. Luke writes in Acts 20:
In summery – Justification is the result of Christ sacrificing Himself on the Cross for man. Man is separated
from a Holy God and is under the penalty of death, thus a payment is required for reconciliation. Upon this payment and the exercise
of repentance and faith on mans part, we are then considered, by God, to be justified or forgiven of our debt for sin, and reconciled
to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures sums it up this way: Rom
Regeneration – Regeneration means “born again” and comes from the Greek word
paliggenesia (pal-ing-ghen-es-ee'-ah); NT:3825. (See Strong’s number definition) and is used twice in the New Testament. Titus 3:5.
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration
and renewing by the Holy Spirit. (NAS) Matt
To be “born again” as spoken of in John 3:3 and explained in the following passages, is a product of the work of the Holy Spirit and carries the concept of receiving a new spiritual nature. It is clear from Jesus words that with out this event of being “born again” in one’s life or following him after regeneration we cannot have any part of His Kingdom or of Him.
To have a new spiritual nature is to have the ability to formulate a proper attitude toward God and produce what the Scriptures call the fruit of the Spirit. Gal 5:21-24. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (NAS) The Scripture imply that only those that have been regenerated have the capacity to demonstrate such capacity with consistency. This is demonstrated through the Scriptures, contrasting the difference between our new and old nature as seen in Rom 3:10-18, as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” 13 "Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving," "The poison of asps is under their lips"; 14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"; 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 Destruction and misery are in their paths, 17 And the path of peace have they not known. " 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (NAS) and Eph 5:8-12. 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. (NAS) Also see: Galatians 5:22-24, Matthew 3:8-12, Matthew 7:17-18.
Regeneration takes place when we confess our sinfulness to God and repent of our sin, then place our trust and faith in God’s Son Jesus Christ as the savior of our soul and provider of the payment to God for our sin. As our physical birth is a one time event in history so is our regeneration a one time event in history.
