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The atonement; God’s plan to free His people from fear
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 Jay's Blog |
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Tuesday, March 07, 2006 |
As pastors, it is of utmost importance that we understand how our parishioners live behind the ‘shuttered windows’ of their souls. During my times of visiting believers, I have found that it is the exception, not the rule, to find church members who can honestly say that they are being ‘perfected in love’ (1 Jn 4:18). (To be ‘perfected in love’ is to be increasingly conformed to Christ’s image by the ongoing conscious reception of His constraining love – 2 Cor 5:14, 15).
Our problem as believers is that indwelling sin keeps disturbing the conscience with fear of judgment. We find it difficult to reckon that the full force of our judgment fell upon the Son of God.
We are still searching for atonement to answer our fear. We often act out of guilt; seeking to discharge a debt, win approval, appease. The old carnal strategies of seeking deliverance from a sense of judgment by means of escape, open resistance, and appeasement still hold attraction for us. The heart is drawn to self-righteous merit systems – we want to have a part in carrying and proving our worth to ourselves and others.
The Gospel is the only antidote to our hiding, rage, defensiveness, and self pity. In order to daily experience its healing grace, we must consent to be represented and protected by the Son of God.
Concerning guilt in the conscience, Robert Haldane warns that “No sin can be crucified either in heart or life, unless it be first pardoned in conscience. . .” (Robert Haldane, An Exposition of the Book of Romans, pp. 253-254).
Because we live our lives under judgment (awareness our sin deserves divine judgment), our greatest need is personal atonement for guilt. In the counsels of eternity, God planned that our judgment and condemnation would be assumed by Another. Central to the Good News is that the Son of God did a voluntary guilt transfer (2 Cor 5:21).
The atonement is a “cosmic moral transfer” of infinite worth. The atonement disarms and frees us from the law. Because of my sin, the condemnation of the law was my chief adversary. But now, the empty tomb carries the atonement into the eternal present (Paul Zahl, Who Will Deliver Us? p. 41).
Now humanity’s designated meeting place with God is the same for every person – it is true fellowship with the Trinity based on true freedom from judgment.
The Gospel’s message of justification teaches us that the righteousness of Christ is put on our account – it is imputed to us. Our worth as believers is upheld by Christ and His work. This is life-transforming; for infinite worth and credit have been assigned to us by reason of union with the Son of God!
The atonement is freedom from judgment because God’s verdict about us in Christ has the power to evaporate all other verdicts (Rom 8:31-34). Verdicts of condemnation come from people, demons, and God’s law – only the blood of Christ can silence these verdicts (Rom 8:33, 34).
Herein is the success of the atonement to heal our fear. By God’s plan we may become as we are regarded. Though we carry feelings of condemnation and worthlessness, God regards believers as righteous in Christ and free from condemnation.
The Gospel is able to penetrate the most guarded prisons of the heart. All the carnal fortresses we have raised to protect ourselves against judgment harm our relationship with others.
What is needed is courage and healing; the Gospel provides both. The saint who can honestly say that he or she is ‘being perfected in love’ is the believer who lives close to the cross by ‘preaching the Gospel’ to oneself each day.
(Today’s post is an excerpt from Jay’s article, “The Cross, the Conscience, and Family Forgiveness.” View the article in its entirety at www.thegospelforlife.org, or at www.frontlinemin.org ) |
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