reformed blogging.

This exceeding trouble and agony did not arise only from the sympathy of the soul with the body, nor from the mere horror of impending death; it was something else that afflicted the soul of Christ, namely, his bearing the sins, not of one, but of all the elect; he had beheld the awful tribunal of God, before which he was presently to appear, in order to pay what he took not away; he saw the Judge himself, armed with all the terrors of his incomprehensible vengeance, the law brandishing all the thunders of its curses, the devil, and all the powers of darkness, with all the gates of hell just ready to pour in upon his soul: in a word, he saw justice itself, in all its inexorable rigour, to which he was now to make full satisfaction; he saw the face of his dearest Father, without darting a single ray of favour upon him, but rather burning with hot jealousy in all the terrors of his wrath against the sins of mankind, which he had undertaken to atone for. And whithersoever he turned, not the least glimpse of relief appeared for him, either in heaven or on earth, till with resolution and constancy he had acquitted himself in the combat. These, these are the things, which, not without reason, struck Christ with terror and amazement, forced from him his groans, his sighs, and his tears. And if all this was not for the expiation and satisfaction for our sins, what reason can be assigned, why the other sufferings of Christ, within the three hours of darkness, should be accounted so? [bold emphasis added]
- Herman Witsius, The Economy of the Covenants (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed), 218.

 

Notice, however, that He, who in sovereign goodness and love has chosen you without being moved to such a decree by your good works or faith; who never deviates in His goodness and love; who concluded you in sin that He might have mercy upon you (Rom. 11:33); and who most certainly glorifies those whom He has elected unto salvation, will therefore not reject you for your remaining sin over which you grieve. Therefore, stand firm in faith, do not succumb to the multitude of remaining enemies, but rather focus upon this eternal decree, the perfect atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the covenant of grace. Rest in these, and although sin must continue to grieve you, do not let it cause you to be discouraged. - Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service (Volume I), 249.

Objection. But it may be said, “Surely this course of procedure can never be acceptable to Jesus Christ. What! shall we daily come to him with our filth, our guilt our sins? May he not, will he not, bid us keep them to ourselves? they are our own. Shall we be always giving sins, and taking righteousness!”
Answer. There is not any thing that Jesus Christ is more delighted with, than that his saints should always hold communion with him as to this business of giving and receiving. For,–
This exceeding honours him, and gives him the glory that is his due. Many, indeed, cry, “Lord, Lord,” and make mention of him, but honour him not at all. How so? They take his work out of his hands, and ascribe it unto other things; their repentance, their duties, shall bear their iniquities. They do not say so; but they do so… Herein, then, I say, is Christ honoured indeed, when we go to him with our sins by faith, and say unto him, “Lord, this is thy work; this is that for which thou camest into the world; this is that thou hast undertaken to do. Thou callest for my burden, which is too heavy for me to bear; take it, blessed Redeemer Thou tenderest thy righteousness; that is my portion.” Then is Christ honoured, then is the glory of mediation ascribed to him, when we walk with him in this communion.
- John Owen, Works, Vol. 2: Communion With God, 195.

Never was sin seen to be more abominably sinful and full of provocation, than when the burden of it was upon the shoulders of the Son of God. God having made his Son, the Son of his love, his only begotten, full of grace and truth, sin for us, to manifest his indignation against it, and how utterly impossible it is that he should let the least sin go unpunished, he lays hand on him, and spares him not… is it not most clear from hence, even from the blood of the cross of Christ, that such is the demerit of sin, that it is altogether impossible that God should pass by any, the least unpunished? If he would have done it for any, he would have done it in reference to his only son; but he spared him not.
- John Owen, Works, Vol. 2: Communion With God, 96.

It is sometimes represented as if the moving cause of the atonement lay in the sympathetic love of Christ for sinners. He was so good and loving that the very idea that sinners would be hopelessly lost, was abhorrent to Him. Therefore He offered Himself as a victim in their stead, paid the penalty by laying down His life for transgressors, and thus pacified an angry God. In some cases this view prompts men to laud Christ for His supreme self-sacrifice, but at the same time, to blame God for demanding and accepting such a price. In others it simply causes men to overlook God, and to sing the praises of Christ in unqualified terms. Such a representation is certainly all wrong, and often gives the opponents of the penal substitutionary doctrine of the atonement occasion to say that this doctrine presupposes a schism in the trinitarian life of God. On this view Christ apparently receives His due, but God is robbed of His honour. According to Scripture the moving cause of the atonement is found in the good pleasure of God to save sinners by a substitutionary atonement. Christ Himself is the fruit of this good pleasure of God… It was the love of God that provided a way of escape for lost sinners, John 3:16. And it was the justice of God which required that this way should be of such a nature as to meet the demands of the law, in order that God “might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus,” Rom. 3:26.
- Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 367-8.

Speaking very generally, I think most Christians can fall into either of two extremes. One side overemphasizes the love of God to the neglect of God’s holiness, while the other emphasizes holiness to the neglect of love. I’ll be honest and just say from the start that, more often than not, I fall into the latter category. In this day and age when the name of God is so often profaned, and holiness abandoned because of its lack of appeal to the masses, it seems natural that those who recoil would jump to the other side and do away with any sort of love or anything even slightly “emotional.” There certainly is fault in this and it is a misrepresentation of God only to portray His holiness without portraying His love.

I do not believe, however, that both sides err equally. Those who emphasize the love of God while neglecting His holiness are in greater error and completely misrepresent God. The God of the Bible is in no way a compromising God, He does not allow sin to go unpunished. Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.” I daresay that anyone who downplays the holiness of God creates an idol and does not worship God at all. Without condemnation of sin there is no need of salvation, and if there is no need of salvation then there is no need for the gospel. God never ceases to be holy and even in His greatest act of love we see His greatest act of holiness.

Having said that much, I do believe that those who downplay the love of God seriously err. There is, however, an order in our approaching God. We cannot understand the love of God without first understanding His holiness. Where the holiness-type people often fail is that they stop at holiness while leaving out love for fear of becoming like the love-type people. This results in many despairing Christians who squirm before a holy and just God rather than approach the throne of grace with confidence. I’ve been there, fearful of God’s holy wrath, the same that came down upon Nadab and Abihu for burning strange fire before God rather than having that love that casts out fear. This is very serious because it deals with assurance of salvation. A high view of God’s holiness is always good, but without a proper view of His love things tend towards despair and despondency. It is here that one wonders whether God can really forgive every single sin, or if enough has been done to show repentance. Just from that you can see how dangerous it is to lack or have an improper view of the love of God. This is all necessary in order for the gospel to do its work. Everyone must come to a point of hopelessness in his own righteousness before the righteousness of Christ is all that we hope in and cling to. Yet, having been justified by faith alone, we are not to remain in this state of hopelessness.

The solution seems to be in rightly “balancing” God’s love and holiness. The love-type people seem to ignore God’s holiness and are falsely assured that all is well with God when it is not, and the holiness-type people give heed to it rightly, but see nothing of the love of God so that there is no hope.

I suggest that it is not a matter of balance, but a matter of perspective. For God’s holiness is not in competition with His love, both are essential attributes of God, and God does not contradict Himself. How do we fix our perspective? Well, in Pierced for Our Transgressions the authors confront this very issue. It is vital that we confront our sin head on without ignoring God’s absolute hatred towards it, but there is only one way to do this without succumbing to despair. Our solution lies in the atonement of Christ, or what is called penal substitution:

that God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin. - Pierced for Our Transgressions, 21.

Thus, the cross of Christ does two things, first it “stands as a memorial to the inexpressible horror of sin; it will not allow us to escape into self-deceiving optimism” but “…at the same time, the cross banishes our despair by declaring God’s comprehensive solution to our plight” (159). At the cross the love and holiness of God meet. There is no greater act of love than Christ, the righteous, dying for His enemies, the ungodly and wicked, who in no wise deserve such mercy and grace. Herein does the Christian stand: on an uncompromising, holy love of God. In this we see His faithfulness to do all that He says, He will maintain His righteousness and punish every sin becoming just and justifier, and we also see very clearly His love for us, that He would send His Son to bear our sin, and become sin for us.

Trembling sinner, look to Jesus, and thou art saved. Dost thou say, ‘My sins are many’? His atonement is wondrous. Dost thou cry, ‘My heart is hard’? Jesus can soften it. Dost thou exclaim, ‘Alas, I am so unworthy’? Jesus loves the unworthy. Dost thou feel, ‘I am so vile’? It is the vile Jesus came to save. Down with thee, sinner; down, down with thyself, and up with Christ, who hath suffered for thy sins upon Calvary’s cross. Turn thine eye thither; see Jesus only. He suffers. He bleeds. He dies. He is buried. He rises again. he ascends on high. Trust Him, and thou art safe. Give up all other trusts , and rely on Jesus alone, alone on Jesus, and thou halt pass from death unto life. This is the sure sign, the certain evidence of the Spirit’s indwelling, of the Father’s election, of the Son’s redemption, when the soul is brought simply and wholly to rest and trust in Jesus Christ, who ‘hath once suffered for sins, the Just of the unjust, that He might bring us to God.’” - C.H. Spurgeon, Our Suffering Substitute: A Sermon on 1 Peter 3:18.

The cross keeps us from ignoring the holiness of God thus downplaying sin, or from ignoring God’s love and becoming despondent or Pharisaical. Our boast is nothing but the cross.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. - Colossians 2:13-14

In the quoted passage Paul speaks to the Church in Colossae, reminding them of their pre-Christian state. He writes so that the believers might not be taken captive through worldly philosophy or empty deception but rather that they might be taken captive by Christ. To this end Paul speaks of the gospel, namely, that they were dead in transgressions and uncircumcision, that they were utterly hopeless, for what can a dead man do? But while in such a state of spiritual deadness God made them alive together with Him. We, as Christians, share in this work of God’s grace. For all apart from Christ are dead in sin. Yet, while in such a sad and pathetic state He made us “alive together with Him.”

And how could a just God do such a thing to those who were in transgressions, those who were defiled, impure, who are described as uncircumcised in the flesh? For God to give life to one undeserving would be unjust if there is no forgiveness. But God made us alive, “having forgiven us all our transgressions.” Thus, as Paul says in Romans, God, through Christ, is both “just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

The next question arises: how did God forgive us all our transgressions, for such is no small feat. Paul responds: “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us.” Those decrees against us, which condemned us for our transgressions, God canceled so that we no longer are indebted to Him. For these decrees were “hostile to us” and showed us to be, by nature, “children of wrath.” And here I would like to dwell for a short while. It is difficult to imagine that which is taking place in the mentioned passage: namely, that God cancels out our debt. To anyone who understands the holiness of God as well as the sinfulness of sin, it is a hard thing to believe that our sins, which are many, can be removed at all. And God has not only forgiven us of our wrong-doing towards Him, but He has completely put aside that which was owed to Him by us. Thus, what was once a dividing wall between us and God has been removed and no longer stands. What, then, exists that will keep us from God but repentance and faith? And once God has forgiven us, what do we owe but praise? For our debt has been canceled. It is not as though Christ has simply paid a debt which we can again fall into, but through Christ our debt has been put aside! Therefore those who are in Christ Jesus have every right to come before God with confidence.

There are, however, those who yet remain wondering how a just God can simply let sin go. Wouldn’t this be akin to pardoning a serial killer? How has our debt been canceled? How has it been taken away? God canceled it “having nailed it to the cross.” Here, every mouth is stopped. For it is not as though God simply forgot about our sins and swept them under the rug, for anything resulting from that would be no grace at all but unrighteousness, and God cannot be unjust. But we see here that God nailed them to the cross. What does that mean? How can sin, something intangible, be nailed to a cross? We would be left in darkness unless we saw through Scripture what this means. For in the Gospels we see Christ, the Son of God nailed to a cross. The only way that any man has a right standing before God is through Christ, our substitute. Because Christ was nailed to the cross, and He did so as our sin are our transgressions justly forgiven. Here we see the complete atonement of Christ, that all was accomplished on the cross. For it was not merely as an example that Christ died, but He accomplished something on the cross, through which we have forgiveness, and righteousness before God. It was because our transgressions were nailed to the cross that we are set free and forgiven and not only that, but made alive together with God. And on this truth do we as Christians stand, and on this truth do we gain full assurance of our salvation, that Christ paid our penalty.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. - Romans 5:6

“Unqualified obedience is required from us: not to furnish title to Heaven–that is found alone in the merits of Christ; not to fit us for Heaven–that is supplied alone by the supernatural work of the Spirit in the heart; but that God may be owned and honoured by us as we journey thither, that we may prove and manifest the sufficiency of His grace, that we may furnish evidences we are HIS children, that we may be preserved from those things which would otherwise destroy us–only in the path of obedience can we avoid those foes which are seeking to slay us… The path of obedience must be trod if ever you are to reach heaven.” - A.W. Pink, An Exposition of Hebrews, p.697

I first heard about Smeaton’s book titled, “The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement” from The Shepherd’s Scrapbook, picked it up not really knowing what to expect, but at this point I think I can say that this book is one of my favorites this year. As the title suggests, Smeaton goes through all the epistles exegetically interpreting specific passages in order to show the apostles’ view of the atonement. His style of writing is clear, and what I really appreciate is how faithful Smeaton is to the text of Scripture. In reading, one does not get the uncomfortable suspicion that Smeaton may be milking a certain passage to read in a way that he wants, or that he is basing his interpretation on unwarranted presuppositions. He clearly proves what he says through thorough exegesis while countering the more popular arguments against the reformed view. The clarity of his writing and exegesis as well as the constant repetition of the basic doctrine of the atonement really do get ingrained into one’s head, and I think it is impossible to read this without being much affected by what God has done in Christ. In addition, one discovers that all this talk about the Reformers getting it wrong has no real warrant. The Reformation did not begin simply because a guilt-laden monk eisogetically interpreted scripture to get what he wanted to hear, but began though the true gospel as found in scripture. Here is an excerpt that cannot but leave the reader with a much deeper view of and greater appreciation for the atonement:

…by God’s appointment [Christ] was made sin, not in mere semblance, but in reality, not before men, but before God, on the great foundation of a federal unity between Him and His people. He was, as it were, the embodiment of sin or incorporated guilt; and we may well affirm that never was so much sin accumulated upon a single head. He was not made sin in a vague, indefinite, abstract way; but the very sins of which we are painfully conscious in the moment of our conviction–that is, our own sins of nature and life–were laid on Him, or transferred from our head to His. He bore their burden; and this rendered it possible to visit Him with the recompense due to sin, and with its necessary punishment, which would otherwise have been impossible. - George Smeaton, The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement, p.226