The Atonement

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Understanding Christ’s Sacrifice

The Bible uses much figurative and metaphorical language and terminology to describe the sacrifice of Christ. To understand the Bible’s figurative and metaphorical language about the sacrifice of Christ, it is essential first to understand what the Bible says about it in literal terms. This provides the framework for correctly understanding any metaphor, figure of speech, symbolism or type about the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice.
A good example of metaphorical language explained in literal terms is 1 John 1:7, which uses the metaphor of the blood of Christ cleansing us from all sin. Literally, the blood of Christ does not cleanse us from sin, but 1 John 1:9 goes on to explain that the literal meaning behind the metaphor is that it is God who forgives us of our sins if we confess them.

God Sent Jesus as a Man and His Son to Save Sinners

God sent Jesus as a mortal man and as his Son, for the specific purpose of being a sacrifice to save sinners and to restore them to him. God sent Jesus as a mortal man in need of salvation himself, but also as his Son so he could overcome sin. Jesus was specifically prepared and made as a mortal man for the purpose of being our representative to be saved through his own sacrifice himself, in order to open up the way of salvation through him for those who believe and identify with him in faith, Hebrews 10:5, 2:16-18, Acts 2:13-24.
The purpose of God in Christ’s sacrifice required Jesus to be a mortal man under the dominion of death, with all the impulses and temptation to sin like other men but overcoming and being sinless, Hebrews 4:15. Jesus inherited mortal human nature from his mother Mary.
To understand the sacrifice of Christ correctly, especially his own relationship to it, we cannot consider Jesus alone in isolation from this work he was sent to do for us. He was there to be our Saviour, and but for our needs, we may reverently say he would not have been there.
Galatians 4:4, Romans 6:9, Hebrews 2:6-18, 4:15, 10:5
Romans 8:2-4 - the term “sinful flesh” or “flesh of sin” refers to mortal human nature with its impulses and tendencies to sin that God sent Jesus in the likeness of. It is called “flesh of sin” because its impulses and tendencies to sin are the source and cause of sin. The “likeness of” means the “same as” or “identical,” with the Greek meaning likeness in the sense of identity not resemblance. The meaning is that Jesus had sinful flesh identical with and like all of mankind. Compare the use of “likeness” in Philippians 2:7. The extent of this likeness is seen in Hebrews 2:14, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things”.
2 Corinthians 5:21 - in the expression “made him to be sin,” the word sin is used as a figure of speech by metonymy to refer to mortal human nature with its impulses and tendencies to sin that Jesus shared in common with us. Jesus “knew no sin” because he did not commit any sin but was perfectly righteous and obedient to God.
The purpose of God also required that Jesus be the Son of God with a mental capacity to be able to overcome sin. He was strengthened by God for this purpose because mortal human nature is too weak to overcome sin by its own strength. God was working in Christ to gain the victory over sin as this could not be achieved by Christ on his own.
2 Corinthians 5:19, Acts 2:22, 10:38, Matthew 1:20-21, Luke 1:35, 4:18, Galatians 4:4, Isaiah 7:14, 59:16, 2 Samuel 7:14, Matthew 3:16-17, 17:5, John 1:14, 3:34-35, 4:34, 5:19,30, 7:16, 12:49-50, 14:9-10, Psalm 80:17, Romans 8:3-4
Genesis 3:15 - the “seed of the woman” implies that God was Jesus’ Father because he was not born of a human father. Only God could achieve victory over sin and death by working in Christ because Christ on his own could not achieve it, John 5:30, 19, 8:28

Christ’s Sacrifice Demonstrates God’s Righteousness

Jesus was lifted up in crucifixion as a sacrifice for all to see as a public demonstration of God’s righteousness to show what was due to sin from God. In this way, God’s righteousness is upheld and sin was condemned at its very source, in the flesh of mortal human nature where the impulses and tendencies to sin reside and operate, John 3:14-17, Romans 3:25, 8:3, Galatians 3:1, Colossians 2:11-15. The righteousness of God in Jesus’ crucifixion is openly revealed through the gospel for us to have faith in, Romans 1:16-17.

John 3:14-17, 10:18, 12:32-33, Philippians 2:8, Romans 8:32 Acts 2:23, 4:27-28, Isaiah 53

The shedding of Christ’s blood was essential for salvation. Blood symbolises life and the shedding of his blood demonstrates that death and mortality is the just consequence of sin, even for Jesus who was a perfectly righteous and sinless man. The shedding of Christ’s blood is efficacious to save from sin and death by faith in the principles it demonstrates, Romans 3:25 (KJV).
Hebrews 9:22, Leviticus 17:11, 14, 1 John 1:7-10, Romans 5:9, Colossians 1:14 (KJV), Matthew 26:28, Revelation 1:5
Christ’s sacrifice was the means through which God exercises his grace to save sinful mankind from sin and death by making them righteous through faith, without compromising his justice or righteousness. He can therefore be just in showing grace to the unjust who have faith in him, while at the same time upholding his justice in imposing death and mortality as the consequence for sin, Romans 4:3-8.
Romans 3:21-26 is a key Bible passage explaining this and is well translated in The New Testament in Modern Speech by Weymouth.
21 But now a righteousness coming from God has been brought to light apart from any Law, both Law and Prophets bearing witness to it—
22 a righteousness coming from God, which depends on faith in Jesus Christ and extends to all who believe. No distinction is made;
23 for all alike have sinned, and all consciously come short of the glory of God,
24 gaining acquittal from guilt by His free unpurchased grace through the deliverance which is found in Christ Jesus.
25 He it is whom God put forward as a Mercy-Seat, rendered efficacious through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness—because of the passing over, in God’s forbearance, of the sins previously committed—
26 with a view to demonstrating, at the present time, His righteousness, that He may be shown to be righteous Himself, and the giver of righteousness to those who believe in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26
- Romans 3:21 - righteousness can only come from God.
- Romans 3:22 - God’s purpose is to bring his righteousness upon all who believe by their faith in Jesus Christ
- Romans 3:23 - all have sinned and no man has any righteousness of his own Romans 3:10, therefore no one is able to save themself from death.
- Romans 3:24 - even though we sin and are unrighteous, God is able to justify us (or make us righteous) by his grace and mercy through the redemption in Christ’s sacrifice. Redemption means to pay a ransom or price to deliver someone from captivity and is used figuratively to describe God saving us from sin and death through our faith in the principles that the sacrifice of Christ demonstrates.
- Romans 3:25 - God has set Jesus as a propitiation or mercy seat, which is the meeting place between God and man in the Law of Moses, Exodus 25:22, 30:6,36. Jesus is the means by which mankind can be restored to God. This redemption (ie deliverance from sin and death) is efficacious to save through faith in his blood because his sacrifice was a demonstration to publicly show God’s righteousness and justice in upholding death as the penalty for sin. This enabled God to be righteous and just in showing mercy and grace to forgive sins and make believers his righteousness.
- Romans 3:26 - If we have faith in the principles of God’s righteousness shown in the sacrifice of Christ, then God can be just and right in showing grace to justify (or make righteous) the unjust who have no righteousness of their own, Romans 4:3-8. God can be just in showing grace and mercy by forgiving sins and making us his righteousness, without compromising his righteousness or justice. When we confess our sins and repent of them we are acknowledging that God is just and righteous and we are wrong to sin and have no righteousness of our own.
Jesus was only able to demonstrate God’s righteousness in his sacrificial death because he was perfectly righteous and sinless in his life. This is why faith in the principles demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ is efficacious to save from sin and death.
Hebrews 4:15, Luke 4:1-13, Matthew 3:13-17, Acts 2:24

Christ’s Sacrifice Condemned Sin

God sent Christ in mortal “sinful flesh” to condemn sin at its very source, in the flesh of mortal human nature, Romans 8:3. The term “sinful flesh” or “flesh of sin” in Romans 8:3 refers to mortal human nature with its impulses and tendencies to sin that Jesus shared with us.
The “sin” Jesus condemned in the flesh of mortal human nature in his death, are the impulses and tendencies to sin that come from within. Here the word “sin” is used as a figure of speech by metonymy to refer to the literal impulses and tendencies to sin that reside and operate in mortal human nature because they are the source and cause of sin.
This condemnation of sin in the flesh of mortal human nature by Jesus in his sacrifice is described in literal terms in Galatians 5:24 as “crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires”, which is a moral principle for us to follow based on what Christ literally did. This shows that the condemnation of sin in the flesh in Christ’s death meant a complete putting to death of the impulses and tendencies to sin in his mortal human nature.
Although Jesus had sinful flesh like us, he overcame temptation and sin in his life, and in his sacrificial death, Jesus condemned sin at its source, in the very flesh of mortal human nature where the impulses and tendencies to sin reside and operate. It is only because Jesus had overcome sin in his life that his sacrificial death was able to be a condemnation of the impulses and tendencies to sin in the flesh of mortal human nature.
Romans 8:2-4 - the term “sinful flesh” or “flesh of sin” refers to mortal human nature with its impulses and tendencies to sin that God sent Jesus in the likeness of. It is called “flesh of sin” because its impulses and tendencies to sin are the source and cause of sin. The “likeness of” means the “same as” or “identical,” with the Greek meaning likeness in the sense of identity not resemblance. The meaning is that Jesus had sinful flesh identical with and like all of mankind. Compare the use of “likeness” in Philippians 2:7. The extent of this likeness is seen in Hebrews 2:14, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things”.
Romans 6:6 - the body of sin is a figure of speech by metonymy referring to mortal human nature in which the impulses and tendencies to sin reside and operate. We need to mortify the “deeds of the body” which is sinful acts caused by the impulses and tendencies to sin in our mortal human nature, Romans 8:13.
1 Peter 2:24 - The way Jesus bore our sins in his body was that, as our representative, he bore the same mortal human nature as us with its impulses and tendencies to sin. It does not mean that our sins were transferred or imputed to him.
Christ destroyed the “devil” within himself that has the power of death. The “devil” is the personification of the impulses and tendencies to sin in mortal human nature which Jesus shared with us. It has the power of death because that is the consequence of sin, Romans 6:23.
Hebrews 2:14-15 - the devil, (Greek - diabolos), is the Bible term for sin personified. Sin is the death-power. Diabolos, as sin personified, is an active spirit of disobedience hostile to God’s law that resides and operates in the mortal “flesh and blood” of human nature that Jesus partook of. Christ took away sin at its source by the sacrifice of himself. There is no such being as the personal immortal devil of Christianity. The belief in such a being is due to the misunderstanding of certain figures and symbols in the Bible.

The Resurrection is the Saving Power of Christ’s Sacrifice

The purpose of Christ's death was to demonstrate God's righteousness and love through a sacrifice for sin. This was necessary to annul the law of sin and death, or mortality, which originated with Adam's sin. Jesus accomplished this by completely meeting its requirements through a temporary submission to its power of death in his sacrifice.
1 Corinthians 15:17-23, Romans 4:24-25, 5:10, John 3:14-17, 1:29, 6:63, Acts 10:43, 13:32-38, Titus 2:14, Genesis 3:15
Jesus differed from other people in the sinlessness of his personal character, in which God was well-pleased. It was this that opened the way for his resurrection, for had he been a sinner as other people, death would have had the same power over him that it has over everyone else.
God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him to a glorified, immortal state of existence, in which he at the present time acts as a priestly mediator between the Father and those who come unto God in faith by him. Without Christ’s resurrection, there could be no forgiveness of sins or deliverance from mortality.
Acts 2:24, 5:30, 10:40, 17:31, John 8:46, Romans 1:3-4, 6:9, 2 Corinthians 13:4, Ephesians 1:20-21, Hebrews 4:14-15, 7:23-28, 8:1, 1 John 3:5

Christ’s Sacrifice is Efficacious To Save Through Faith

We are brought into connection with the work of salvation accomplished in Christ by our faith in it. Christ’s sacrifice is efficacious to save from sin and death by faith in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin that it demonstrates.
Christ’s sacrifice was the means through which God exercises his grace to save sinful mankind from sin and death by making them righteous through faith, without compromising his justice or righteousness. He can therefore be just in showing grace to the unjust who have faith in him, while at the same time upholding his justice in imposing death and mortality as the consequence for sin, Romans 4:3-8
He does this by his forbearance and grace which is an undeserved gift. Our faith is counted to us for righteousness even though we sin and need God’s forgiveness. God gives us his righteousness as a gift by grace.
- Romans 3:22 (WEY) - a righteousness coming from God, which depends on faith in Jesus Christ and extends to all who believe. No distinction is made;
- Romans 3:25 (WEY) - He it is whom God put forward as a Mercy-Seat, rendered efficacious through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness - because of the passing over, in God’s forbearance, of the sins previously committed.
2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9, Ephesians 2:8, Romans 4:3-6, 10:3, James 2:23
The sacrifice of Christ is not literally efficacious to save of itself. It is literally God who saves us from sin and death through our faith in the principles that Christ’s sacrifice demonstrates.
Christ’s sacrifice demonstrates principles only, and does not meet any legal requirement or perform any function or transaction. There is no intrinsic value or property in the shedding of Christ’s blood, or the offering of his body, or his death that takes away sin, or causes sins to be forgiven or enables deliverance from mortality.
The blood of Christ does not literally atone, justify, purify, cleanse, wash, cover, or redeem from anything of itself. This is figurative and metaphorical language to describe what God does literally on the basis of a believer’s faith in the principles demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ, including the shedding of his blood, Romans 3:25 (KJV).
- Literally, it is God who forgives our sins through his forbearance and grace after we confess and repent of our sins and identify in faith with Christ’s sacrifice by being baptised, Romans 4:1-8, 6:3-14. When we confess our sins and repent of them we are acknowledging that God is just and righteous and we are wrong to sin and have no righteousness of our own.
- Literally, it is God who will deliver us from mortal human nature with its impulses to sin, by giving us immortality at the judgment seat, if we have been found to have lived a life by faith “in Christ” living the principles of his sacrifice in following his example, John 6:39-40, Romans 8:9-11, 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, 2 Timothy 1:8-10, 2:11-13, 1 Peter 1:9.
Romans 4:3-5, 24, 5:1, 6:23, 8:1-14, 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, 1 John 1:7-10, 5:4-5, Ephesians 2:8, John 3:14-17, Acts 10:43, Hebrews 9:14, 10:19-25, 1 Peter 1:3-9
The principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ are doctrinal facts with moral principles that we need to have faith in. Essentially we must be dead to sins and live unto righteousness, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 6:2-14.
- God is righteous and just in sentencing mankind to mortality as a consequence of sin. No one has a right to life and all mankind is rightly related to death as mortals.
- God’s ways are righteous and just but mankind’s ways are sinful and unjust.
- The flesh, (ie mortal human nature), is weak and profits nothing. It has no good in itself. Mankind is naturally given to sin because of the natural impulses and tendencies to sin in mortal human nature that are the source and cause of sin. No one can ever be righteous of themselves but will inevitably sin.
- Mankind is totally dependent on God’s grace and mercy to be delivered from sin and death on the basis of faith in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ. No one can save themselves.
- Sin must be repudiated in confession and repentance and cannot be excused or justified. We have no righteousness of our own. God gives us his righteousness as a free gift by his grace through our faith.
- We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds to be like God in righteousness and holiness and to live by faith in Jesus Christ, living the principles of his sacrifice.
God forgives us for Christ’s sake by his grace, and by the power of his teaching, he turns people away from their sins and leads them to righteousness. It is through faith that Christ’s blood is able to purify our conscience from dead works of sin to serve the living God in righteousness. All of the doctrinal aspects of the sacrifice of Christ teach moral principles on how we should live our lives in faith, following the pattern of his sacrifice to be dead to sin and alive to God in righteousness.
Romans 1:1-11, 2:4, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 1:14, 21-23, Acts 3:26, 13:38, 1 John 1:7-9, 2:12, Hebrews 10:14-18, Isaiah 53:12

Christ Obtained Salvation for Himself to Obtain it for Us

God’s plan of salvation involved sending his son Jesus to be our representative as a mortal man with the same mortal sinful nature as us in need of salvation himself. The purpose of this was to provide a way out of this mortal death state, both for himself and for his brethren, through death and subsequent resurrection.
As our representative, Christ was himself saved from mortality and raised to immortality through his sacrifice for us, so that we can be saved from sin and death in and through him by faith.
Jesus obtained eternal redemption “through his own blood” for himself and us, Hebrews 9:12, 13:20. Redemption is a metaphorical figure of speech used to describe God’s deliverance of salvation. In Hebrews 9:12 (KJV), the words “for us” are not in the original Greek text. The Greek verb is in the middle voice, signifying a unique action where one performs something upon oneself, “having obtained in himself eternal redemption.” The purpose of Jesus’ sacrifice was to obtain eternal redemption (deliverance) for us, and he did so by obtaining it in and for himself as our representative.
The “holy place” in Hebrews 9:12 symbolises heaven which Jesus could only enter after being made immortal by God, Hebrews 9:24. Jesus is specifically said to have entered the “holy place” “by means of his own blood”, which signifies that the literal fulfilment of the symbolism is that it was through the blood of his sacrifice that Jesus obtained eternal redemption (deliverance) for himself in order to obtain it for us.
As our representative, Jesus has opened up the way of salvation from sin and death to immortality for those who have “faith in his blood”. Symbolically, we also can enter the holy place (ie God’s salvation of immortality) “by the blood of Jesus” because he opened a new and living way for us by opening the way through the curtain (the veil) that blocked the way, which represents his flesh or mortal human nature, Hebrews 10:19-23, Matthew 27:50-52, Mark 15:37-38.
Hebrews 9:12, 24, 13:20, 2:9, 5:7-9, 4:14-15, 12:2, Romans 1:1-4, 5:17-19, 6:9, 8:17, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Philippians 2:5-9, 1 Peter 2:24.

Christ Obtained Redemption By His Own Blood Through Faith

Jesus was sinless and needed no reconciliation to God or forgiveness through his sacrifice as we do, but he did need saving from his mortal human nature with its impulses and tendencies to sin. God redeemed and saved Jesus from mortality “by means of his own blood” (Hebrews 9:12, 13:20) by raising him from the dead and giving him immortality on the basis of his “faith in his blood” Romans 3:25 (KJV).

Jesus’ shed blood was efficacious to redeem or save him from mortal human nature through his “faith in his blood”, Romans 3:25, viz his faith in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin that the sacrificial shedding of his own blood demonstrated.

Jesus’ faith in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin that his sacrifice demonstrated, was evident in his life of perfect righteousness and obedience of faith, even unto the death of the cross. His sacrificial death was the literal exhibition of his faith in the righteousness of God and the condemnation of sin in himself. His “faith in his blood” is why God could righteously raise him from the dead to immortality, Romans 1:1-6, 5:19, 16:25-27, Acts 2:24, Philippians 2:8.

Jesus’ baptism was an act of identification in faith with his sacrifice when he would completely “fulfil all righteousness” by demonstrating God’s righteousness to the fullest extent in himself, Matthew 3:15, Luke 12:50, Romans 3:25-26. Jesus exhibited his faith in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin demonstrated in his sacrifice literally in himself, whereas we do so symbolically by identification in faith by baptism.

Jesus’ obedience of faith unto the death of the cross was his willing submission to his Father’s will that salvation from sin and death for mortal mankind, including himself as our representative, is only available on the basis of faith and identification in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin as demonstrated in his sacrifice. As our representative and forerunner, Jesus went through this process himself literally whereas we go through it symbolically in baptism.

Hebrews 9:12, 24, 13:20, 2:9, 5:7-9, 4:14-15, 12:2, Romans 1:1-4, 5:17-19, 6:9, 8:17, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Philippians 2:5-9, 1 Peter 2:24.

Christ Was Included in His Sacrifice

Christ himself was included in the sacrificial work which he did “for us”. It was for himself that it might be for us, for how otherwise could we obtain redemption in him as our representative if he had not first obtained it for himself, for us to become joint heirs of with him?

Jesus was not disconnected from the operation of his own sacrifice. His sacrifice was operative on himself first of all. For Jesus to be our representative, it was necessary that he should himself be the first to undergo the process and be the first to benefit from the results.

As a sufferer from the effects of the first sin that he inherited, (viz mortal human nature), Jesus had himself to be delivered from those effects and the mode of that deliverance was by death on the cross. That death was for himself first, not for sins that he committed, but for deliverance from mortal human nature which he suffered in common with his brethren. Jesus was made in all points like his brethren, partaking of their mortal flesh and blood nature for the express purpose of redeeming it in himself from the dominion of sin and death, and inviting them to build on the new foundation he laid, Heb. 2:11–17.

As our representative Jesus is the beginning of the new creation and the first fruits of those who sleep, the forerunner on our behalf, the firstborn among many brothers, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 15:23, Hebrews 6:19-20, Romans 8:29. He was the nucleus of eternal life for all who identify in faith “with him” in baptism and are “in Christ.”

Jesus' own deliverance was as necessary as that of his brethren. In fact, if Christ had not first been saved from death (Hebrews 5:7) - if he himself had not first obtained eternal redemption through his own blood (Hebrews 9:12) - there would have been no hope for us, for we obtain salvation only through what he has accomplished in himself. He overcame and we share his victory over sin and death by uniting with him in faith. This we do in baptism, in which we are made partakers of his death as well as his resurrection.