The Basic Principles Of The Sacrifice Of Christ

Before we get into the “pictures” or “figures” of the sacrifice of Christ, we should outline the basic, straightforward principles involved. These will con­stitute the biblical foundation on which everything else in this study is built (the lists of proof passages are by no means complete):

  1. Our need and helplessness: Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Rom. 5:12; 7:18; James 1:13-15.
    As Paul tells us in his epistle to the Romans, we cannot know the “good news” (Rom. 1:16,17; 3:21 onward) without first of all understanding the “bad news” (Rom. 1:18-3:20). Principle #1 here stresses the “bad news,” i.e., humans are all “sinners,” or at least will be (if they live long enough); the “devil” (biblically understood) is inside all of us; and we need to be saved from ourselves!
  2. Jesus Christ was a man: Rom. 8:3; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 2:14; I John 4:2; II John 7.
    We are all, in Scriptural terminology, “lepers” — totally unclean and trapped in bodies of death (Principle #1). God has sent us a Savior who is one of us! Jesus touched the “lepers,” literally, in the working of his miracles, and he touches us (i.e., he partakes of our nature) so as to work the greatest of all miracles — our salvation! That is what being a man meant, and means.
  3. Jesus Christ is also the Son of God: Psa. 80:17; Luke 1:35; II Cor. 5:19­21; I John 4:15.
    Jesus was made a man so that he could identify with us, and we could identify with him. He was made a man so that he, himself would be in need of salvation. And he was, at the same time, made the Son of God so that he could — by the grace of God — achieve that salvation.
  4. Jesus Christ was tempted: Matt. 4:1-11; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 4:15; 5:8.
  5. Nevertheless he was perfectly obedient: John 8:46; Rom. 5:19; Heb. 4:15; 7:26; I Pet. 2:22.
    Jesus was tempted because he was a man. He was perfectly obedient, in part, because he was the Son of God. We say “in part” because his own faith (as well as his divine parentage) was indispensable to the achievement of a perfectly righteous life and a perfect final sacrifice. Jesus was truly a man, but a man plainly fitted by God for the task of atonement, as no other man has been or could be.
  6. Thus he was our perfect representative: Matt. 16:24; John 1:29; Rom. 3:25; I John 3:16.
    In his humanity, Jesus identifies with us, and — in recognizing that hu­manity — we are invited to identify with him.
  7. Christ’s death was necessary for his own salvation: Phil. 2:8,9; Heb. 7:27; 9:7,12; 13:20.
    In his own life, and by his death and resurrection, Christ won a very real victory over sin and the “devil”.
  8. Through Christ we may obtain forgiveness of sins: Acts 4:12; 10:43; Rom. 3:25;4:5; Heb. 9:22.
  9. Through Christ we become children of God: Rom. 8:15-17,29-32; Gal. 3:27-29; 4:5; Eph. 1:5; 2:11-15.
    There is a change of status at baptism. God is making a covenant with us; we now belong to His family, and become His heirs.
  10. The death of Christ expresses God’s love: John 3:16; Rom. 8:31,32; II Cor. 5:19.
    The Father of Christ was, and is, intimately involved in the process by which salvation is offered to, and ultimately conferred upon, those who are “in Christ”. Nothing the Father does is done grudgingly; He lovingly desires, and He works wholeheartedly toward, our redemption and our inclusion into His spiritual “family”.

What is stated here has been deliberately simplified as much as possible (but, one hopes, not too much!) so as to convey basic principles without confusing or ambiguous language. Don’t we all agree on these matters? Should these points be the focal point of controversy? Yet sometimes they are, and generally (this observer thinks, anyway) that is because we have attempted to “dig” more deeply into very profound matters. I am not saying it is wrong to seek out the “deeper things” of the spirit of God; of course it is not! But sometimes, in pursuit of this objective, we set one idea against another, and concentrate on differences (or perceived differences) between brothers or groups of brothers. It is then especially that we may come to put too much emphasis on one or more of the “basic principles,” and consequently less emphasis on others of those same “principles”. In examining every aspect of one “tree” in the forest, as it were, we may lose sight of another “tree” which is equally important — or we may even lose sight of the “forest” as a whole!