The positive principles of Christ’s sacrifice may be summarized and contrasted with some of the popular misconceptions of other “churches”, as follows:
CHRIST DID.— CHRIST DID NOT…
- Die as our representative. a. Die instead of us, as a substitute.
The substitution (or redemption/ransom) picture — while useful, as we hope to see later— is incomplete and imperfect, because:
- we still die (Basic Principle #1 above);
- Jesus, as a man, had to die anyway (BP #2); and
- Jesus — having “paid” for a total victory over sin and death — did not remain dead, as he should have, if his life were understood as full payment for our lives!
- Provide a way for our sins b. Pay our “debt”. to be forgiven.
If a debt is paid, it cannot also be forgiven (but of course it is: see BP #8 above)!
- Obtain salvation for himself c. Have a “free life” [free of Ada mic condemnation, ed.].
Christ was mortal (BP #2), and therefore death was “owed”. His body—being mortal — already belonged to “death”. One cannot pay off a debt with his creditor ‘s money (BP #7)!
- Show the love of God. d. Appease the wrath of God.
This is the worst of pagan, non-Christian religion: an angry, vengeful “god” appeased by the death of an innocent victim. This may be the way the Gentiles perceived their “gods” as acting, but the one God of the Bible — the God of love — is not like this at all (BP #10).
- Live and die as our example. e. “Do it all!”
We must follow his example (Matt. 16:24). If Christ really “did it all” for us, then we should be able to live however we please. But of course we cannot: Christ is our representative and thus our example (BP #6), showing us how to live. And having become the children of God (BP #9), we must see that with our new status come new responsibilities (Rom. 6).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One