Grudem - Chapter 27 - The Atonement

Question 1

Define the Atonement of Christ?

Answer 1

The work Christ did in Life and Death to Earn Our Salvation.

Question 2

What was the cause that led to Christ’s coming to earth and dying for our sins?

Answer 2

1) The Love of God

2) The Justice of God

Question 3

Was there any other way for God to save humanity then by sending his son to die in our place?

Answer 3

No.

Question 4

Did God have to save anyone?

Answer 4

No.

Question 5

What are the two aspects of Christ’s work?

Answer 5

1) His Obedience for Us

2) His Sufferings For Us.

Question 6

What term is used as a synonym for Christ’s Obedience for Us?

Answer 6

Active Obedience

Question 7

Describe Christ’s Active Obedience.

Answer 7

The Obedience of the requirements of the law in our place in a perfect manner and execution.

Question 8

What term is used as a synonym for Christ’s Sufferings For Us?

Answer 8

Passive Obedience.

Question 9

Describe Christ’s. Passive Obedience.

Answer 9

The Suffering Christ Endured In Which He Took the Penalty For Our Sins and Died For Our Sins

Question 10

How Long did Christ Suffer While On Earth?

Answer 10

His Whole Life. For example, the temptation in the wilderness or torment by Jewish leaders.

Question 11

What are the four reasons why the Cross of a Painful Experience For Christ?

Answer 11

1) Physical Pain and Death
2) The Pain of Bearing Sin
3) Abandonment
4) Bearing the Wrath of God

Question 12

What are four crucial points/facts that allow us to further understand the Death of Christ?

Answer 12

1) The Penalty was Inflicted By God the Father
2) Not Eternal Suffering But Complete Payment
3) The Meaning of Christ’s Blood as both a redemptive act and as a sign our judicial guilt before God.
4) Christ’s Death as Penal Substitution.

Question 13

Define Penal Substitution in the context of Christ’s Death.

Answer 13

Christ’s Death was a Penalty He Faced and Was a Substitute For Us.

Question 14

What is another term used to describe Penal Substitution?

Answer 14

Vicarious Atonement.

Question 15

What does Vicar mean?

Answer 15

Someone who stands in the place of another or represents another.

Question 16

What are the Four Needs We Have as Sinners?

Answer 16

1) We Deserve to Die as the Penalty for Sin
2) We Deserve to Bear God’s Wrath Against Sin
3) We Are Separated From God By Our Sins
4) We Are in Bondage to Sin and to the Kingdom of Satan.

Question 17

How Are The Four Needs of Sinners Met By Christ’s Death?

Answer 17

1) Sacrifice - He Paid the Penalty of Death That We Deserved
2) Propitiation - He Removed Us From the Wrath of God That We Deserved
3) Reconciliation - He Overcame Our Separation From God Through Christ’s Position as a Mediator Between God and Men.
4) Redemption - Christ Gave His Life As A Ransom For Us To Redeem Us From the Bondage of Sin.

Question 18

Is the Analogy of Christ’s Death in Terms of a Ransom Accurate?

Answer 18

Not entirely. There was No Payment to Either Sin or the Devil Because Neither of Those Things Has the Power to Demand Such A Payment

Question 19

List the Four Other Views of the Atonement.

Answer 19

1) The Ransom to Satan Theory
2) The Moral Influence Theory
3) The Example Theory
4) The Governmental Theory.

Question 20

Define the Ransom to Satan Theory of Atonement.

Answer 20

It views Satan as the one to whom the Ransom needed to be paid for the sins of man and gives Satan far more power than he actually does.

Question 21

Define the Moral Influence Theory of Atonement.

Answer 21

It holds that God did not require the payment of a penalty for sin. Christ’s death was simply a way in which God showed his love for human beings.

Question 22

Define The Example Theory of Atonement.

Answer 22

It holds that Christ’s Death was to provide us an example of how we should trust and obey God perfectly even if it leads to a horrible death.

Question 23

Define the Governmental Theory of Atonement.

Answer 23

It holds that God did not have to require a payment for sin but it was to demonstrate that His law had been broken and that deserved a punishment.

Question 24

What is the Origin of the Phrase, “He Descended Into Hell”?

Answer 24

It Does Not Appear in Its Literal Sense Until After 650 AD and was brought into being by, persumably Rufinus.

Question 25

What is the Possible Biblical Support For A Descent Into Hell?

Answer 25

1) Acts 2:27 - KJV says “thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.” - May mean not abandon to death as opposed to a literal descent.
2) Romans 10:6-7 - “Who will descend into the Abyss?” - Does Not mean that Christ went Hell. Peter is saying not to ask these questions because Christ is near.
3) Ephesians 4:8-9 - “What does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?” - Descends to earth not hell.
4) 1 Peter 3:18-20 - “In which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark.” - Refers to something Christ did at the time of Noah and not at the time of the Resurrection. Preaching to the imprisoned spirits on earth.
5) 1 Peter 4:6 - “For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live as the spirit like God.” - Means the gospel was preached to those who died physically but would live forever in the spiritual realm forever.

Question 26

What creed contains the phrase, “Descended into hell”?

Answer 26

The Apostles Creed.

Question 27

What is the Biblical Opposition to a Descent Into Hell?

Answer 27

1) The declaration “It is finished” meaning the end of Christ’s suffering.
2) The statement to the their that “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
3) The Statement “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Question 28

Should the phrase, “He descended into Hell” be kept according to Grudem?

Answer 28

No.