Atonement Flashcards
Your hearer is a sincere seeker after God, Using Scriptures, lead him into an adequate knowledge of the plan of salvation.
Define the term atonement.
Atonement is the repair of a fractured relationship between the people and God through the forgiveness, covering, and removal of sins. The act of atonement kept the covenant relationship between people and God intact. In the OT, on the Day of Atonement the high priest entered the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle to atone for the sins of all Israel. In the NT, atonement is made possible by the work of Jesus Christ.
Where did the plan of atonement originate?
In the OT with the Levitical High Priest as the one who mediated temporary atonement through sacrafices.
What made the atonement necessary as far as God is concerned? What made the atonement necessary as far as man is concerned?
Because man is alienated from God by sin and our sin causes us to be unholy and unable to come into the presence of a Holy God. The atoning work of Jesus makes way for us to come into the presence of God, from not until eternity.
What does the atonement teach about God’s love? God’s mercy? God’s justice? God’s holiness?
God’s love - speaks to God’s love for us that he would not stop making a way for us to be reconciled until it was done and final through the work of Jesus Christ. It was lot of effort (in our minds) to continually respond to a stiff necked people bound to sinful way.
God’s mercy - we did not deserve, yet we were given
God’s justice - it speaks to what God believes is just and good. And it is good and just for us to be in the presence of God growing in Christ likeness.
God’s holiness - God is indeed holy and requires holiness in his presence. Though we are continually being made holy in this life, we have righteousness granted by Christ that still allows us access to the holiness of God.
What qualified Christ for being such an offering? Could another human, other than Christ have made an acceptable offering? Why not?
Christ is qualified because he is divinity, because he is the very likeness of God, because he is sinless, because God appointed him for the task, because he was made perfect through suffering….for all these reasons, he is now the high priest.
How do the biblical ideas of ‘redemption’ and ‘propitiation’ relate to the doctrine of atonement?
Redemption is the deliverance of believers from sin.
Propitiation is the idea of turning away someone’s wrath.
If atonement is reconciliation of a broken relationship of a sinful, unfaithful people to a holy God, sin must be removed through forgiveness of sin so that God’s wrath can also be removed.
What assurance do we have that the offering was acceptable to God?
Hebrews 1:1-4 gives clues….also Hebrews 8-10 discusses the inadequate sacrifices may be Levitical High Priests compared to that of Jesus.
Is there any limitation on who may benefit from the atonement of Christ?
All can benefit who believe in Christ. John 3:16-17
Can the atonement be effective in human lives, in any way, where the Gospel is unknown?
No, sadly.
