The Atonement: What was involved?

In this episode Brother Jonathan talks about the atonement, Christ's death, what the atonement consisted of, who is accountable for Christ's death, the dual aspect of Christ's death, the idea of imputation, and faith.

 

The Atonement: What was involved?

S2EP2

Remnant Bible Fellowship

 

1. Introduction
2. Comments
   1. I will openly state at the beginning of this episode that I am not a Calvinist or Reformed in any sense of the words. I will also state that I am not an Arminian. I’m not a follower of Pelagianism, Moral Government Theology, or any denomination’s self-made ideology. I’m not a Baptist, and I’m not a Pentecostal. I am a Christian, and that means that I have one authority and reference point: Jesus Christ. You will not get me to identify myself, or this podcast, or any other ministry that I may be a part of in the future, with some term or system that is not itself stated in scripture. I might agree with the interpretations set forth in some of those systems and that are meant by those terms, but I am not bound by them.
   2. You don’t have to be a Calvinist or an Arminian. That’s the fallacy of Bifurcation. The two are not mutually exclusive. I don’t have to go by your definition of words; especially if I can’t find those same words used that way by God Himself. In a time when Christ and the Apostles told us that the majority of people would be following lies, even those who profess to know Him, is it too hard a thought for people to understand that all of these cliques are either partially or mostly incorrect? I don’t think so, and the longer I read and study my Bible the more I am convinced of it.
   3. The very best thing that you can do for yourself spiritually is to stop just believing your pastor, preacher, teacher, friends, family, church, denomination, commentaries, or even what is so-called historical. You are going to be judged, alone before God Himself, by His Word. It is His Word alone that you should start and end with. You cannot be afraid to question, and you cannot be afraid to be separate. You cannot be afraid to be alone and have no friends other than Christ. Christ warned us in John 16:2 that there would be people who would even try to kill true believers based upon the idea that they are doing God a service. Not a false god, but the true God. There are going to be many Christ says, and He says many, that are going to come before Jesus Christ at the judgment who will think that they had served Him and He will correct them. He said that there would be few that truly find eternal life.
   4. I feel like I have to emphasize this because the atonement is something that is very misunderstood by most people. Most professing believers have never sat down and read the entire New Testament writing down every verse and passage that talks about the atonement and put it all together to form their understanding of it. They just…believed what they were told when they first came to Christ. I did that, and most likely you did too. So, in talking about the atonement, if you truly base your beliefs on scripture alone, you are more likely to be called a heretic today than anything else.
   5. That’s what I did preparing for this series. I sat down and read through the entire New Testament writing down every verse and passage that talked about the death and resurrection of Christ. Then, after that, I went back through all those passages again reading the context and just taking a look at what they said while studying certain words and phrases. Then, in preparing for these episodes I’m going over them a third time and trying to put all the pieces together. I didn’t pour over commentaries. I referenced some on certain passages that are a little unclear, and I quote from one or two books in this episode, but I’m not basing anything on them alone. If I’m going to default to anything I’m going to default to the scriptures by themselves.
   6. I say all that to say this: Unless you take the time to do that yourself, and you come to a different conclusion—which I acknowledge is possible, because I’m fallible—then you don’t have any grounds to say that I’m wrong yet. You have to set aside your bias and prejudice when it comes to doctrine. Scripture has to speak for itself as much as is possible. If you find yourself struggling to explain your doctrine with scripture alone then you have a problem. Most people have “proof text” theology. They have two or three verses, like the Romans road, and they base their entire understanding of salvation on that. What you’ll find when you read the rest of scripture, or the first 200 years of Christian writings, is that approach and understanding of salvation is not to be found.
   7. When you’re trying to understand doctrine, there are some buzz words I want you to look for in people’s explanations, writings, sermons, or lessons. They are: “it’s implied” “it seems to be” “possibly” “reading between the lines” and things like that. Unless someone can directly tell you why from the scriptures alone, and you see that exact same thing being communicated directly from the scriptures yourself, then it is by definition unbiblical.
   8. Let me illustrate my point. Here is an excerpt from something that I’m working on writing. Please listen closely:
      1. It is this simple statement then, “God is true, and His Word is true,” that should be the summary of a Christian’s ultimate standard of truth. It should be their plumb-line conviction. Whenever a believer is confronted with new information, or a new argument that is seeking to persuade them of something, it is this premise that they should examine it by. If the information or argument presented to them is in any way contradictory to this plumb-line then it must be rejected. For example, imagine that God said, “The ball is red.” A believer would then have confidence that the ball is indeed red. It would be their firm conviction that it is so, because God is true and He said it. Even if they had never seen the ball themselves, they would believe it on the basis of God’s trustworthiness. Men may come and say: “The ball is blue.” “The ball is actually a square.” “There is no ball!” But if God said it is red, then it is red.
      2. Imagine though, if a believer unintentionally changed their premise slightly by adding to it. What if a believer, maybe by some form of persuasion or deception from someone else, changed their premise from “God is true and His Word is true” to “God is true, His Word is true, and the color red doesn’t exist”? Because their premise has changed, how they interpret the things presented to them would be skewed. How would the person then interpret it if God said, “The ball is red”? Well, they could redefine what “red” meant. “‘Red’ here is used in a symbolic sense, meaning, ‘non-existent’, and the ball therefore is non-existent because it is ‘red’ according to this meaning.” They could set aside the statement totally. “This statement is not applying to believers currently because it contradicts what we know the rest of scripture says: red doesn’t exist, therefore, this passage can’t be applying to us today.” Perhaps some ministers could write books on the “doctrine of the non-existent red.” What if another believer then told them that the ball is actually red because they had not changed their premise from that which scripture truly says it is? They had never added the part that said, “The color red doesn’t exist.” What would most likely result is a debate about what “red” means, or whether or not the statement applies to believers today at all. As far as our believer with the skewed premise is concerned, this other believer has completely missed the point.

• Does it sound silly? Let me frame it in a different light. Is your “ultimate standard” that “God is true and His Word is true”, or is it “God is true, His Word is true, and my denomination is true”? Could it possibly be “God is true, His Word is true, and my favorite teacher is true”? Does this illustrate the point a little clearer? May I ask you, what is your actual plumb-line? When new information or a new argument is presented to you, what exactly are you measuring it by? Do you think, “Okay, this and this isn’t what my Pastor said…so it must be false”? It is possible to deceive yourself in something like this. Perhaps you think, “This and that is false because the Bible doesn’t teach that,” but in your mind you equate “what the Bible teaches” with “what I believe”. It is more common than you think. Never presuppose that you’ve gotten a corner on the market of truth. God knows all things, the believer knows that God knows all things, and this is where the believer’s confidence rests: in God’s infallibility and not our own.

1. As I talk about the atonement, and I try to communicate what I believe the scriptures plainly say, I want you to keep that in mind. Are you interpreting everything through what you’ve been taught, or are you solely focused on the scriptures? Let them speak for themselves, and don’t run them through Calvin, or Arminius, or your favorite revivalist.

• Summarize what Adam did
  1. Wasn’t born from procreation.
  2. Called a “son of God” (Luke 3)
  3. Was tempted by Satan
  4. Disobeyed God
  5. Became subject to death
  6. Died
  7. Became the beginning of all who die

1. Christ’s Death
   1. God, in His Divine omniscience, knew that man would fall, but at the same time wanted to show mercy, grace, and forgiveness to mankind. God must uphold His holiness and His hatred for all that is wicked, and it must be clear in His actions towards man that He never once compromises it. How then can God show mercy? How can God let the ungodly go free while at the same time demonstrate His hatred of wickedness to those who do wickedness?
   2. One of the problems with the Old Testament sacrifices is that they could not change man. Man is the problem. We are the ones who commit sin. So what God did was to make a sacrifice that would not only erase the past sins of those who would trust in it but that was able to change them. This is stated in the book of Hebrews, speaking of the OT temple, it says:
      1. “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:6-15)
   3. The writer is showing how that the priests under the Law of Moses, the Old Testament, had to offer sacrifices of sin for themselves and then the people. Then He proceeds to show that the problem with the Old Testament sacrifices was that they “could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience.” It was all earthly and temporal things. But Christ went into the temple of God in Heaven, after which pattern the earthly one was made, and He brought His own blood to offer for the people. The purpose of it is stated to “purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God”. It is “for this cause” that He is the mediator of the new covenant. That’s why He is the head of the body, and He is the one with preeminence.
   4. But you see here that the purpose of what Christ accomplished was not just to keep people from going to Hell. It was to change them. It was to make us obedient saints unto God. It’s the purpose of what Christ accomplished. Before the fall Adam and Eve were obedient. They sinned, and all of us have reaped the consequences. Christ came to undo the fall and to turn mankind back to God. In the atonement of Christ was all that was necessary to make man a loving and obedient servant of God.
      1. “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” (Heb. 7:19)
         1. The bringing in of the better hope of the gospel of Christ can make men perfect before God.
      2. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:3-4)
         1. The Law of Moses was spiritual but man is carnal Paul said in Romans 7. We are born with a weakness. We are more inclined to serve our own desires than God’s. God therefore sent His Son to undo this bondage of corruption, to turn us from the power of Satan unto God, for the express purpose “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.” That we might be made righteous. Practically. Actually.
      3. This is the dual aspect of the Atonement. It is two-fold. We read in Romans 4:25:
         1. “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Rom. 4:25)
      4. There is a past work done in the atonement, and then there is provision for the future. Christ was “delivered for our offences”, that is, He died in our behalf that we might be forgiven of past transgressions. Then, He “was raised again for our justification”. He was raised to enable us to live. He indicated this in His earthly ministry when He told the disciples, “because I live, ye shall live also.” (John 14:19) That just as a vine gives life to the branches that draw their sustenance from it even so Christ gives life to those who follow Him as their Lord.
      5. But you see this dual aspect of the atonement mentioned throughout the New Testament. Especially in Romans.
         1. Romans 5:9, “Being now justified by His blood,” the forgiveness of past sins, “we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” That’s the future emphasis of salvation.
         2. Romans 5:10, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,” past sense of forgiveness, “much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Again the future emphasis of salvation.

• Romans 6:5, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,” past emphasis of the end of our old way of living, “we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:” Future emphasis of salvation. Notice also that this is a conditional statement.

1. 2 Timothy 1:10, “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death,” Christ undid the state in which we were in, “and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” His resurrection brought life to us.
2. His death looked to atone for past sins, and His resurrection was to give us life. It is only because He lives that we have the promise of eternal life and the resurrection of the dead. Paul stressed the importance of this in 1 Corinthians 15:
   1. “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” (1Cor. 15:12-17)
3. Paul put it very simply referencing two false teachers when he said:
   1. “And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.” (2Tim. 2:17-18)

• So there is a direct connection between our being raised from the dead and Christ having raised from the dead. So much so that if a man denies the general resurrection of the dead then they deny Christ’s resurrection Paul said. This means that person’s entire faith is overthrown he says. That’s how important this is.

1. But in respect to Christ’s death itself, it might surprise some of you that some people teach that Christ had to spiritually die on the cross. Some people even teach that Christ was tormented in Hell during his three days of death. Some go so far as to say that God Himself poured out His wrath on Christ when He was on the cross. They say that when the sun went dark for the space of three hours and Christ cried out “my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me” that God the Father turned His back on the Son there. None of that is in the Bible. I think that some of us have just heard things like that repeated so many times—and it makes for interesting preaching—that people have just kept repeating it. But the simple fact of the matter is that the New Testament only emphasizes the physical suffering and death of Christ:
   1. “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” (Matt. 16:21)
   2. “And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.” (Matt. 17:22-23)

• “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” (Matt. 20:18-19)

1. “And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mark 8:31)
2. “And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.” (Mark 9:12)
3. “Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.” (Luke 9:44)

• “But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.” (Luke 17:25)
• “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:19-20)

1. We see here a continual focus on the physical suffering and physical death of Christ as constituting what He would accomplish. We know this, because when we take communion we don’t say, “This is my mystical spiritual death which was given for you.” No. We say, as He instructed us, “This is my body which is given for you…this is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” It was the physical suffering and death of Christ and His physical resurrection that was enough.
2. Regarding Him supposedly being “accursed from the Father” as some people have said, I have some questions:
   1. When Christ cries out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Does that not show that He understood the Father to hear Him? God couldn’t hear His prayer if He was separated from Him.
   2. In Luke 23:34 we see Christ interceding for men as though they are the ones who are guilty of what is going on. This shows several things:
      1. Christ considered the men guilty of inflicting this upon Him.
      2. Christ prayed as though He was not separated from the Father.
      3. Christ believed that His prayer was to be heard by the Father.

• In Luke 23:46 we see Christ commending Himself into the hands of the Father. Again, speaking as though He was not separated from God the Father and that the Father was not “pouring out His wrath” upon Him. This also shows that Christ was not going to go to Hell to be tormented as some believe.

1. John 13:1 shows that Christ was to go out of the world unto the Father, not to go to be tormented in Hell.

1. In every account of the crucifixion of Christ, He acted as though He was not for one moment separated from God the Father. Furthermore, He never showed any expectation of going to be tormented in Hell—sorry hyper-Charismatics. And He never even insinuated that God the Father was pouring out His wrath on Him—sorry Calvinists.

1. Who Killed Christ?
   1. A question we must ask is, “Who then is accountable for Christ’s death?”
   2. Let’s look at some scriptures:
      1. Christ is. Christ said that He was laying down His own life as a willing sacrifice for men. This is not some divine act of child abuse like the emerging church movement, and that false teacher Brian McLaren says.
         1. “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:17-18)
         2. This shows that Christ knew exactly what He was doing, and He did it for the joy that was set before Him. He was going to bind the strong man, Satan, and spoil his house of those who were taken captive by him at his will.
      2. Christ indicates that He willfully submitted Himself to death because the Father commanded it. God the Father planned for Christ to die. Men sinned and were subject to death. God ordained one to die in their behalf. This is what was meant when Peter spoke on Pentecost:
         1. “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” (Acts 2:23-24)
         2. “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief…” (Isaiah 53:10)
         3. This is also how God the Father was going to glorify His Son and give Him the preeminence.
         4. “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.” (John 13:31-32)
         5. “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36)
         6. “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 5:30-31)

• Men are the ones who killed Christ. We see this continually emphasized in the book of Acts:
  1. Acts 2:23, They killed Him, but God raised Him up.
  2. Acts 3:14-15, They killed Him, but God raised Him up.
  3. Acts 4:10, They crucified Him, God raised Him up.
  4. Acts 5:30-31, They killed Him, God raised Him up.
  5. Acts 7:52, they betrayed and murdered Him.
  6. Acts 10:39-40, they killed him, and God raised him up.
  7. You get the idea.

1. Substitution
   1. Christ did not die for Himself. He did no sin. It was not possible that He should die for Himself. This is what is indicated in the scriptures. Christ could overcome death for men because He was not subject to it. He was sinless in order that He may willfully die for others.
      1. “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” (Acts 2:24)
      2. “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 25:8)

• “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” (2Tim. 1:10)

1. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb. 2:14-15)
2. “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Col. 2:10-15)

1. He died for our sins. He died in our behalf.
   1. “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:28)
   2. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1Pet. 2:24)

• “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:10-11)

1. “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” (Eph. 5:2)
2. “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” (Heb. 7:27)
3. “In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;” (Heb. 10:6-12)

1. Speaking of Christ as our substitution, Albert Barnes had this to say:
   1. “It was certain that unless there was some substitution the race would perish. Sufferings indescribable and awful—sufferings that would express the Divine sense of the value of law and of the evil of a violation of that law—must come either upon the offenders themselves, or upon some one who should take their place; and God chose that those sufferings should come upon the Redeemer rather than upon the guilty. Thus they might be saved, and at the same time there might be an expression of the Divine sense of the value of law and of the evil of a violation of that law, as clear and as impressive as though the guilty had themselves borne the full penalty of the law.” (Barnes, The Atonement in its Relations to Law and Moral Government, pp.283-284)
2. The power of the atonement is not only in who died, but it is in considering how sinless and perfect the one was who died, and for what motive He submitted Himself to it.

• Summary
  1. So let’s sum it all up so far:
     1. Man is born in a state of bondage to corruption and weakness so that by our own power we cannot do that which God requires. We are under the law of sin and death. Because each of us sin, not having the strength in ourselves to break this bondage, we become sinners and accountable to God.
     2. Christ came to break our bondage and set us free from the law of sin and death. He was born of a woman, lived a perfect sinless life so that He would be able to redeem us by willfully submitting Himself to death.

• God the Father, through His determinate counsel and foreknowledge, ordained that Christ should be a willing sacrifice for our sins. “The lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” He would die, though Himself being innocent, so that He might receive glory.

1. Christ’s atonement consisted of His physical sufferings and death. This is clearly demonstrated to us by the many scriptures, and by the ordinance of communion wherein we remember the body and blood of Jesus which were broken and shed for us.
2. Christ’s resurrection is that which guarantees the life of all who commit themselves to Him in faith. It also was that which publicly demonstrated for all time that Jesus is the Son of God, and the only means of salvation.
3. If we believe that Christ was not perfect and sinless, we will not be forgiven. If we say that Christ did not rise from the dead, then neither will we be partakers of the resurrection ourselves. These things are central points to keep or we deny the Christian faith.

• Problems with Imputation
  1. There is a theological idea called “imputation”. If you have been a Christian for a while, you’ve most likely been told that Christ’s obedience to the Law, or His righteousness, is written to your account. This is what “imputation” means. It’s when something that is not yours is reckoned to your behalf. This is where the idea of sin and salvation are thought of as an accountant’s ledger came from.
  2. The idea of imputation has three main parts, in some form or another:
     1. Adam’s guilt and sin imputed to all mankind.
     2. Man’s sin imputed to Christ.

• Christ’s righteousness imputed to the believer.

1. Here are the problems with imputation:
   1. It is not Adam’s guilt or sin that we inherit from him. We are partakers of what he became subject too, and that was mortality; and eventually, the second death as a result of our own sin. We are partakers of flesh and blood and the weakness and bondage that comes with it. We are accountable for our own sins before God, as He Himself says, and are held guilty for our own transgressions, not Adam’s.
   2. If Adam’s sin was imputed to all mankind then it would include Jesus Christ. Christ had to be a “son of man”, a descendant from Adam, in order to redeem mankind. Adam is even specifically mentioned in Christ’s genealogy in Luke 3. There have been many clever, and intricate, “rescuing devices” that have been come up with to try to explain this away. There’s how the “seed of the woman” was trying to be cut-off by Satan before the seed was born. You know, they try to say that Satan plagued the house of David, and Jeconiah was to be written childless, etc. That’s very interesting, but none of it is stated in scripture. There’s also how, sin is transmitted by the blood of the father and that’s why Christ had to be born from a virgin—as if God struggled to overcome biology. Again, nowhere stated in scripture. Let’s just go with what the scripture says, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same…” (Heb. 2:14) There are a dozen or more places where it is directly said that Christ became flesh. If Christ didn’t become just as human as us then He had no legal right to redeem us. This isn’t a problem when you define things biblically. It’s only a problem when you believe that sin is somehow a physical or genetic deformity of your body—which it is not. Sin is described as a voluntary committal of the will in defiance of God’s Law, for sin is the transgression of the Law. (1Jn. 3:4) This is exactly what Christ overcame in living a sinless life. That’s why His life was so spectacular:
      1. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15)
      2. “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” (Heb. 2:18)
      3. “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Rev. 3:21)

• If man’s sin was directly and literally imputed to Christ on the cross, that is, in the sense of an exact exchange, as would be the case in an accountant’s ledger, then Christ would have to pay the exact punishment in order to undo it. This would mean that Christ would have to have suffered an eternity in Hell. Since Christ was only dead 3 days, this is clearly unbiblical.
  1. This is not to say that Christ’s death was not in our behalf, or that He didn’t bare the sins of mankind. We are told directly that Christ bore the sins of many. That is very different though than saying that He took the literal punishment for all men’s sins. People often conflate those two ideas when the Bible doesn’t. We’ll talk about that later.

1. Christ’s obedience to the Law made it POSSIBLE for Him to make an atonement. As a man, Christ had to obey the Law Himself in order to not have a debt Himself to God. It had to be a “spotless” lamb that was sacrificed just as the Old Testament picture of Christ’s atonement was shown in the Passover Lamb.
   1. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” (1Pet. 1:18-21)
2. Charles Finney had this to say in his Systematic Theology:
   1. Christ owed obedience to the moral law, both as God and man. He was under as much obligation to be perfectly benevolent as any moral agent is. It was, therefore, impossible for Him to perform any works of supererogation [anything above that which is required of man]; that is, so far as obedience to the law was concerned, He could, neither as God nor as man, do anything more than fulfill its obligations.
   2. Had He obeyed for us, He would not have suffered for us. Were His obedience to be substituted for our obedience, He need not certainly have both fulfilled the law for us, as our substitute, under a covenant of works, and at the same time have suffered as a substitute, in submitting to the penalty of the law.
   3. If He obeyed the law as our substitute, then why should our own return to personal obedience be insisted upon as a sine qua non of our salvation/
   4. The idea that any part of the atonement consisted in Christ’s obeying the law for us, and in our stead and behalf, represents God as requiring:
      1. The obedience of our substitute.
      2. The same suffering, as if no obedience had been rendered.

• Our repentance.

1. Our return to personal obedience.
2. And then represents him as, after all, ascribing our salvation to grace. Strange grace this, that requires a debt to be paid several times over, before the obligation is discharged! (Finney, Finney’s Systematic Theology, pp. 218-219, original 1878 expanded ed., reprinted 1994, Bethany House Publishers)

1. In addition to all that, Christ obeyed because Adam disobeyed. In order for Christ to make a sacrifice for others, He had to obey Himself first. So, the saying that people have today, “Christ obeyed so that you don’t have to,” is wrong in that sense. Christ obeyed to be eligible to make an atonement. Christ’s righteousness is not reckoned to our account.

1. But I want you to think about that for a moment. Could it be called “grace” or “forgiveness” if someone else DID pay for the full amount literally? If you owed a bank money, and someone else paid it all for you, did the bank “forgive” anything? Or did they just take it from someone else? But if the whole world has committed terrible crimes against God, and an innocent man submits Himself to death at the hands of the executioner to endure the same sentence of death, if it impressed upon you the seriousness and awfulness of your crimes so that you turned to live righteously every day after: the judge could show grace in forgiving you your past offences, for that righteous man’s sake. The point of the judgment had been accomplished. You would become a loving and obedient servant, and He could show grace while upholding the rule of law.
2. Albert Barnes said it well of Christ:
   1. “He effected so much by his voluntary sufferings that it was not necessary, by any demands of justice, to inflict the penalty of the law on those for whom he died.” (Barnes, The Atonement in its Relations to Law and Moral Government, p.282)
3. Consider the following when thinking about the idea that “all God sees in us is His Son” or the idea that you can be positionally “in Christ” but not practically “in Christ”:
   1. One idea that has resulted from the false teaching of Christ’s righteousness being imputed to us at our conversion is the idea that all of our future sins are already forgiven. They say, “all of your past sins were in the future from the point of the cross.” Sadly, they think—as I did at one time—that somehow that is a biblical answer. If all of your future sins were already forgiven when you were converted then you would never have to ask for forgiveness for anything else that you ever do again.
   2. If Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us at our conversion then you would never be out of fellowship with God again. But in 1 John 1:4-7 it says clearly that fellowship with God is contingent upon our obedience and walking in the light.

• If Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us at our conversion then Christ Himself could never say, “I know thy works…repent.” He says this multiple to the believers addressed in chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation. And if anyone should argue that those are addressing churches and not individuals I would remind them that individuals are accountable to God for their actions. Groups are made up of individuals.

1. Also, if Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us at our conversion you would never have a single prayer that is unanswered. You would be seen as perfect, because Christ was sinless, therefore you would never have any reason in the sight of God for Him to not answer your prayers. Prayer is specifically mentioned to be contingent on an obedient relationship with God the Father and not asking anything contrary to His will. Neither of those should be possible if God only sees the perfection of Christ in you. But He does see your sin when you commit it, and if you don’t repent of it He does hold you accountable.

1. There is only one legitimate use of the world “imputation” in the context of salvation.

1. Faith as Righteousness
   1. The word “impute” means “to reckon, to consider as”. It is used to mean that God does know our sin but He forgives it and treats us as though we were righteous. Now the question is, why?
   2. Why does God not see our past sin, and what is reckoned to us as righteousness in His sight? Well, it’s not Christ’s obedience being written to your account. This is not an accounting thing. “Impute”, “reckon”, or “consider” has no sense of “transfer” in it. It does not in any way mean that anything of Christ’s obedience is “transferred” to you. That idea is much more in agreement with the false prophets in the Old Testament:
      1. “Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:” (Eze. 13:22)
      2. “They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.” (Jer. 23:17)
   3. They give a false assurance of acceptance with God to those who do evil and walk after the imagination of their own hearts. But what does God say?
      1. “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.” (1Jn. 3:7)
      2. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” (Gal. 6:7-8)
   4. It is funny how that the scriptures have to emphasize deception more than once in this regard. If you live a disobedient life then you will die in your sins. Anyone who says otherwise is—according to the scriptures—deceiving themselves, and you.
   5. So, since it is not Christ’s obedience to the Law that is reckoned to us as righteousness, what is it that makes God choose to forgive us of our past sins? The answer, faith.
      1. “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Rom. 4:19-25)
   6. It is our faith in Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life, that God sees as a good reason to forgive our past sins. Because when we embrace Christ as Savior we are simultaneously condemning self-righteousness before God. We are stating our own guiltiness of sin before Him and His just judgment against all unrighteousness. We are yielding to His rightful authority and judgment. That’s repentance.
   7. But how is it that faith is what is reckoned to us while at the same time it says that so much is conditioned on our obedience?
      1. “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:” (Rom. 3:22)
   8. It is faith in Christ which enables a person to obey God. It is called the “obedience of faith” in Romans 16:26, the faith that works by love in Galatians 5:6, and the faith that is made perfect by works in James 2. Faith that does not lead to obedience is not saving faith the Bible says.
   9. This is where most people have not recognized from the scriptures that there are two types of works in God’s sight: self-righteous works, and the works of faith. There is the self-righteous work which seeks to earn its deserved place in heaven, as the Jews did:
      1. “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Rom. 10:1-4)
   10. They would not submit themselves to the idea that God was righteous and they were not. They would not submit to a Savior. But the works of faith embrace Christ. They take the side of God against themselves and say, “I was wicked, sinful, disobedient; and God is just in condemning me. I flee for refuge to the only hope that I have: Jesus Christ.” Then they cast themselves upon Christ just like in the Old Testament when men would flee to the temple and grab the horns of the altar weeping. Christ is their life. They say, “I follow that man, He is my Savior, and I will cling to Him as my only hope.”
   11. The scriptures tell us that the saving faith of a Christian is shown in that they obey God.
       1. “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1Jn. 3:10)
   12. Closing
       1. So considering all of these things, Christ said:
          1. “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” (Matt. 12:33)
       2. Christ compared men to trees. You can tell what they follow by their fruit, their works. Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree evil, and your fruit evil. Let no man deceive you: He that doeth righteousness is righteous…and none else. If you call yourself a Christian, or desire to be one: cast yourself on Christ and run whole heartedly after Him. Cling to Him everyday like you’ve jumped out of a plane and He’s the parachute, and cling to Him like that until you’re safely on the ground on the other side of the judgment.

Here's our new episode:

The Atonement: Why the Atonement was Needed

In this episode, Brother Jon talks about the new show's format, the question, "How can a loving God allow so much evil and suffering", Why the Atonement was needed, and why do I inherit anything from Adam?

Here are the show notes:

The Atonement: Why was the Atonement needed?

S2EP1

Remnant Bible Fellowship

 

1. Intro
   1. Starting a new format for the podcast.
   2. Plug for reviews, questions, and social media.
2. How can a loving God allow so much evil and suffering?
   1. I’ve already talked about this question before in a brief episode of the same title. I wanted to talk about it again briefly because this is a very common question. This will be one of the questions that you will be asked regularly. To me it seems to be a very silly question. I honestly can’t say that I’ve ever had a problem with evil and suffering in the world. If you just read the scriptures, especially Job, Psalms, and Christ’s words in the Gospels, I don’t think that you will have any problem. For the lost though, it is a major problem. It comes from their wrong perception about God.
   2. (Relate gas pump testimony)
      1. Why do you blame God for evil and suffering in the world when men are the ones who do evil and create suffering when they disobey God’s commandments?
         1. The next question that naturally follows is, “Well, why doesn’t God do something about it if He exists?”
      2. If God immediately judged every person when they broke His commandments, then no one would ever go to heaven. But God has appointed a day when He will judge the quick and the dead by Jesus. No one is going to escape. Every secret thing will be made manifest because all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. There could be no forgiveness because no one would ever have a second chance.
   3. Deeper Conversation
      1. If you talk to someone who puts more thought into their arguments, you’ll need to explain worldviews to them. Most people that I’ve run into are either relativists or naturalists. The way to deal with them is to explain the nature of evidence to them. If you’re not familiar with it, then I’d recommend Dr. Jason Lisle’s The Ultimate Proof of Creation. I’ve mentioned it several times before, I believe, and honestly it’s because I think it’s an excellent book on basic apologetics. But you need to understand their worldview that they’re coming from. Like I said, the majority of people that I talk to are either naturalists or relativists. You can understand that by the questions that they’re giving you or the arguments they’re presenting.
      2. But what you should look for is remembered by the acronym AIP, which stands for: Arbitrariness, Inconsistency, and Preconditions of Intelligibility. Maybe in another episode we’ll talk more about that. I’ll just give you a couple of examples of how it would work. So, someone asks you, “If there is such a good God, then how can there be so much evil and suffering in the world?” And you could respond:
         1. As someone who doesn’t believe in absolute morality, how can you say that anything is evil?
         2. As a naturalist, why do you have a problem with evil and suffering? If evolution is true, then why shouldn’t people lie, steal, or murder, especially if it increases their survival value?

• You point out inconsistencies between their worldview and their arguments. You can also point out arbitrary claims—anything that is claimed without rational justification. Also, if you take the time to study out why and how, you can point out when a worldview does not provide the conditions necessary for science to be possible—called the preconditions of intelligibility. Things such as the laws of logic, the basic reliability of the senses, or even mathematics are not possible in a time plus matter plus chance universe.

1. Usually you don’t need to go very in-depth. Most people have never thought out their excuses for not becoming Christians.

• Taking a look at the Atonement
  1. Why it’s important—it’s the entire point of Christianity, it is the basis of the gospel
  2. Why it’s difficult—We have 1,960 years of people interpreting it to sort through: but not really.
  3. How doctrine should form:
     1. In your study you should be looking for plain statements from the Bible. It’s okay to be simple.
     2. You don’t have to sort through 1,960 years of people’s opinions, beliefs, and writings. You don’t have to know all the –isms. We should begin with the Bible, and end with the Bible.

• If a doctrine cannot be explained in plain statements taken directly from the scriptures, on a basic level, then it is most likely not Biblical. If there is a teaching or doctrine being taught that sets forth ideas or notions that you don’t see in the scriptures then it is most likely not true.

1. Most people do not take notice when they see a scripture that contradicts what they were taught. They brush it aside and say, “Well, that’s most likely not what it means.” Let me tell you, that is a very dangerous thing to do spiritually. The Spirit of God, without which no man can receive the things of God, is called the “Spirit of truth” who guides into all truth (John 16:13). One of His purposes is to teach you right doctrine. It’s probably not going to come like a lightning bolt to your brain. It will come line upon line, precept upon precept, as you are continuing to read God’s Word and seek His face daily.
2. Now obviously, not all the body of Christ is going to be individually taught all their doctrine independently. God has given the body of Christ teachers and so forth. But all believers are equipped to learn doctrine if they apply themselves to it. We are all to continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s all doctrine really is. It is true things about God from His Word. That’s why the only people who have no doctrine are people who don’t really read the scriptures. Given enough time of reading the scriptures, you come to understand what it says about certain things.

1. God’s Omniscience
   1. It’s very important to acknowledge at the outset of this that God knows everything. There is the old saying that nothing has ever “occurred” to God. People sometimes think that something got messed up in the Garden of Eden and that God had to go to plan B. That’s just not true. We’re told in Acts 15:18 that, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” That means that God knew the entire history of humanity, and how all things would unfold in time, before any of it began.
   2. People sometimes have a problem with the omniscience of God, and they ask the question if God knows all things before they happen, whether or not man has any free will. The problem with that line of reasoning is always definitions of terms, and we’re not going to look at it now—frankly, because I find it unedifying and ridiculous.
   3. But, for the moment, you have to consider the fact that God is not only omniscient (meaning “all knowing”) but He is also eternal. He is not bound by time at all. In 1 Peter 3 we read that a thousand years with the Lord is as one day, and one day as a thousand years. He is not bound by time like you and I are. We are mortal, temporal, finite, and He is none of those things. So, the only way for an eternally omniscient God to commune with and interact with men is presently. God condescends to our level, at least in that respect, to interact with us.
   4. This means that God gives us choices while at the same time knowing what we will do. I’m not even going to argue about whether or not man has a free will to choose what he will do or not do at this point. I truly believe that if you were left on a deserted island with only a Bible, and you read it with simple childlike faith a thousand times, you would never in a million years come to any other conclusion. God has given man free will; otherwise, He would never command us to abstain from certain things and to do other things.
   5. But when it comes to the fall of man, what you will find is that God knew exactly what He was doing. The longer I read and study my Bible the more amazed I am at God’s wisdom, and how every single thing that He has done has been done in absolute wisdom and goodness. Sometimes people get hung up with questions as to why God allows for an innocent person to die in the place of the guilty, and the answer is seen in God’s grace, mercy, and the fact that He alone has the authority to make such a decision. Other times, people get hung up with questions like, “Well, why am I inheriting anything from Adam’s screw up at all?” It is questions like that that you will find are answered by God’s wisdom. It is especially when talking about the atonement that you see the wisdom of God, and the consistency of scripture testifying to the same exact thing.
   6. It is inevitable that some people will not like what I’m going to talk about, or they’re not going to agree with me, or they may want me to emphasize one thing over another. Our talking about the atonement is not going to come anywhere close to an in-depth look at it. It’s only meant to maybe instruct a little, and then to encourage you to read and study these things for yourself.
2. Why was the Atonement needed?
   1. There is a simple answer: the fall of man. The atonement is God’s answer to man’s fall.
   2. In talking about the fall of man we will see exactly what Christ had to accomplish in the atonement. That’s very important to understand: Christ’s atonement was accomplished in order to undo what man’s fall accomplished.
   3. By the “fall of man” we are talking about what happened in the Garden of Eden between Adam and Eve, and the serpent.
3. Adam: the figure of Christ
   1. We read in Romans 5:14, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”
   2. Adam is referred to as, “the figure of him that was to come”, speaking of Christ. He was a pattern, a type, of Christ. Christ Himself is referred to as “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). In that verse, there is a direct correlation between what Adam was and did, and what Christ is and did.
   3. Iranaeus, an early Christian writer, even stated very matter-of-factly that what Christ accomplished was meant to be the inverse of Adam. We’ll go more into detail on that next time when we talk about what was involved in the atonement. This time we will just focus on the fall of man. Since Adam was the “figure of him that was to come” let’s pay close attention to what happened in the fall.

• Genesis 3
  1. Let’s look at God’s punishment of the serpent, Eve, and then Adam after what happened in the Garden of Eden.
  2. “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:14-15)
     1. The serpent, we know from Revelation 12:9, is Lucifer. We don’t know in what form or fashion this happened, but it’s only someone who calls God a liar who denies it. Now there is something very important to notice here. God does not question the serpent. He asserts the guiltiness of the serpent in saying, “Because thou hast done this”. The intention of Satan is very plain: He wanted man to sin. It’s very notable that he had to deceive him though. He had to get man to willfully choose to disobey God, and he succeeded. This made Adam and Eve yield themselves to the words of Satan. They chose to believe and obey Satan over God.
     2. I think people sometimes think that there are three options of obedience: God, Satan, or themselves. That’s wrong, there are only two: God, Satan. Under Satan falls everything of disobedience to God. If you choose to “go your own way” you are walking in the path of Satan himself who rebelled against God in pride.

• Notice how God curses the serpent in v.14. Satan has been cursed by God. We read elsewhere that all those who follow him are cursed also.
  1. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Mat. 25:41)

1. We see that the Lake of fire has been prepared as a punishment for the devil and his angels. His angels are those angels who follow him in his rebellion. Notice in that verse that disobedient humans are cast there also. Christ Himself calls them cursed also. This is expressed also in other places:
   1. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.” (Heb. 6:4-8)
2. This is because those who are not in Christ, and partakers of his atonement, are under the bondage of Satan. They are in the path of the disobedient.
   1. “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” (2Tim. 2:26)
   2. “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” (Col. 1:13)
   3. “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” (Acts 26:18)
   4. “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2Cor. 4:3-4)
3. What you should take away from this is that God has cursed the serpent, Satan, and if you don’t belong to God you belong under His adversary’s dominion. The scripture tells us:
   1. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb. 2:14-15)

• That brings us to the next part of God’s punishment of the serpent in the fall. In v.15 God makes a pronouncement of the serpent’s demise. He says, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This is what is referred to as the “first gospel”. It is the first promise of a redeemer in the Bible. This contains several points:
  1. There would be enmity between Satan and humanity.
  2. There would be enmity between the children of the Devil (all unbelievers) and the seed of the woman, which is Christ. We know this from the fact that God refers to the seed of the woman in the singular right after, saying, “…it shall bruise thy head”.
  3. Christ would destroy the power and authority (head) of the Devil. This is verified by what we just read in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
  4. The serpent, Lucifer, would bruise the heel of Christ. This signifying Christ being killed.

1. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Gen. 3:16)
   1. This, as much as it may bother some people, is where women were given the place of subjection to their husbands when God says, “…and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Some people read into that more than is there. Women are not in any way less than men. Both men and women are affirmed to be made in the image of God. It is simply a difference in roles. Believers are told that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) The early Christians openly affirmed and taught that women were just as valuable as men. It’s ironic that people have any problem with this idea from the Bible because Charles Darwin taught that a woman’s brain was one-third the size of a man’s and I don’t see anyone crying out about that. Even if you were to take the naturalistic worldview to its ultimate logical conclusion then women would be fair game to be treated as less valuable and only good for child rearing: if naturalism were true. Why do you think men treat women the way that they do nowadays? They are taught naturalism. If they were taught Biblical values and beliefs they would fear God, love their wives as their own bodies, and they would treat older women like mothers and the younger women like sisters like the Bible says. But Paul the Apostle affirmed this principle found in Genesis, saying, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” (1Tim. 2:11-14)
   2. Again, this is not saying that women can’t serve God. Women are listed and named in the NT as doing just that. Women are said to be allowed to pray in the congregation and they were given spiritual gifts by the Spirit of God Himself. If God ever insinuated the carnal idea of the subjugation of women He didn’t say so in the Bible. Contrary to that, the Apostle condemned husbands who did not take care of their wives and treat them rightly. (See 1 Pet. 3:7; Eph. 5:25-28, 33; 1 Cor. 7:3) Also, before moving on, one of the main motivations for the modern feminist movement is because they hate God. They shout things like “kill the patriarchy!” It is a rebellion against God’s role. He is the one who has pronounced these things. If you have a problem with that then your anger is not against men, it’s against God. I would recommend that you don’t talk to or about God as though you can do battle with Him.

• The other part of Eve’s punishment is that God would “greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception”. This seems to be clarified when God says, “in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” Throughout the scriptures references to the pain of childbearing is referred to almost like the worst kind of pain a human endures. When you think about the fact that Christ referred to the Tribulation period as the worst time period that will ever happen to humanity and likens it to “birth pangs” that gives you an idea. Having witnessed my wife give birth naturally twice now, I can tell you that it is not something to envy. This is something that we know was put upon women because of Eve’s sin. On the other hand, what you have to consider is the fact that God has also given to women the ability to have children. That’s something that men have never, and will never, experience. For what it’s worth, my wife says it’s worth it.

1. Notice though, that in Eve’s punishment she herself was not cursed. The only thing that changed about her—that is mentioned in this verse—was that she was subjected to sorrow of conception and subjection to her husband.

1. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:17-19)
   1. It’s important to note that God is not punishing Adam because he listened to his wife. Adam is being punished for doing what God told him not to do. He is being punished for disobedience, for sin.
   2. But look at what God curses here: the ground. God curses the earth, and He says that it is for his, Adam’s, sake. We’re told in Romans 8:19-21 that God subjected creation to vanity in hope. That doesn’t seem to make sense until we continue, because God proceeds to pronounce physical death upon Adam. He says, “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Adam is punished with mortality: he will die physically. This is extremely important as we’ll see in the next couple of verses.

• But, again, notice that God doesn’t curse Adam. In all of this passage God curses only two things: the serpent (Lucifer), and the ground (creation). Neither Adam nor Eve is cursed. They are punished, but not cursed.

1. “And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” (Gen. 3:20-24)
   1. A lot can be said about these verses, and I am not going to go into everything. I want to focus on one aspect that we want to take some time to consider, because it is the principle point. God says, “…lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” God drove Adam and Eve from the Garden lest he should eat of the tree of life and live forever. Understand that God’s subjecting man to physical death was an act of infinite mercy.
   2. Iranaeus, and early Christian writer, put it this way:
      1. “Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God.” (Iranaeus, “Against Heresies”, Book 3, ch. 23)

• It was God’s mercy to make man subject to death. God here instituted a principle that made possible redemption for man. For when God said, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) he also made it possible to say, “For he that is dead is free from sin.” (Romans 6:7) You might not get the implication of that right away. Just like Iranaeus said, “But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God.”

• Death
  7. It is because God made death the wages of sin, or the punishment for sin, that it is possible for man to be redeemed. If God had not made man mortal and corruptible, then it would not be possible to redeem mankind because he would forever be in that state of sin. God putting death as the “end” of sin. Paul compared it to a marriage in Romans 7. So long as you live you are joined to it. If you die, the bond is broken. This is what Paul was referring to in the book of Romans when he said, “For he that is dead is free from sin.” (Rom. 6:7)
  8. We’re also told in Romans:
     1. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Rom. 5:12)
  9. It is because all men have sinned that all men are subject to death. A question naturally arises from this fact. What exactly did we inherit from Adam? I might make a lot of people upset by my answer, but it’s not a “sinful nature”. How would you define that? A nature that is only capable of sin? No man has that. Even Hitler could tell the truth. Would it be a nature that gives the ability to sin? No, that can’t be it. Adam and Eve in their first state were obviously capable of sin, because they did sin. So, if even the first state of man was capable of sin, what did we inherit from Adam? Well, let’s just consider a couple of scriptures:
     1. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb. 2:14-15)
     2. “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1Cor. 15:50-54)

• “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:5-7)

1. “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” (Rom. 7:14)
2. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Rom. 7:18)
3. “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Rom. 7:23-25)

• “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Rom. 6:6)
• “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” (Rom. 6:12)

1. Do you see the emphasis in all of these verses? The children are partakers of “flesh and blood”. “Flesh and blood” cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does “corruption inherit incorruption”. That’s why the body must be changed at the resurrection. Christ said, “That which is born of flesh is flesh…ye must be born again.” Paul said that we are “carnal”—“sarkikos”, the same Greek word where we get “fleshly”—sold under sin. In our “flesh” dwelleth no good thing. There is a law in our members Paul said trying to bring us into captivity to the law of sin which is in our members. Paul referred to our natural bodies as “the body of this death”. He calls it elsewhere “the body of sin”. And again, we are not to obey our mortal body in the lusts thereof. Paul says that in doing so we let sin reign. We inherited flesh from Adam, our mortal bodies. This corruptible body.
2. Paul refers to the weakness of the flesh. We are warned about the lusts of the flesh as one of our primary enemies. Why do you think that Paul said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1Cor. 9:27) Paul also refers to our “vile body” being changed in Philippians 3:21.
3. So you inherit flesh, a mortal body, from Adam. There are lusts that it has. There are desires that arise in your mortal body that are unlawful to God. They may seem pleasurable to you, but you will serve either God or yourself. This is why Christ continually emphasizes denying yourself.

1. The image of Adam
   1. So you inherit this likeness from Adam. We’re told in Genesis:
      1. “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:” (Gen. 5:1-3)
   2. When Adam was first formed he was made in the image of God. When Adam sinned, the image was marred, because God is holy. We still retain many things, but mortality, flesh, and corruption is not it. This new image of flesh and blood is what continued in Adam’s son. We’re told, “And Adam lived and hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:”
   3. It may seem unfair, but what you’ll find is the wisdom of God. Why do you inherit the image and likeness of Adam by being born from him? Well, let’s just say it’s the wisdom of God. Consider this: Adam sinned, and became flesh and blood, subject to mortality and death. You are descended from Adam, and inherit the same flesh and blood, subject to mortality and death. If you continue in this likeness, Adam’s, you will die and give account for your sins with no remedy. You have no strength to change this. But what if a man was born in the same flesh and blood, a son of man, who was different? What if that man overcame the weakness and did no sin? What if He willfully subjected Himself to still die? To undergo the same penalty as all other men who have sinned, though He didn’t deserve it? Another thing, what if He overcame death and rose again because having not sinned He was not subject to it? What if, just as Adam became an image and likeness that you partake of, this son of man became a new image and likeness that you may partake of? If the wages of sin is death because of the pattern of the one that you were born into, as Christ said, “That which is born of flesh is flesh,” (John 3:6) what if you willfully chose to die and be born again in a new image? What if you chose to die to sin, for he that is dead is free from sin, and to be born after the image of Him that did no sin? You know what you’d be? You’d be a new creature.
   4. There is a pattern that has been given. You are living after the pattern of Adam, and you will reap the consequences. In the atonement, God has provided you with an alternative. Die to sin, and go after a new pattern. Be born of the spirit, for that which is born of spirit is spirit Christ said (John 3:6), and sow unto the spirit. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” (Gal. 6:8) “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1Cor. 15:21-22) Consider Paul’s words in Romans:
      1. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 7:24-8:8)
   5. Closing
      1. I think that we’ll stop there for this episode. We’ve talked about why the atonement was needed. It was needed because of the fall and the state that humanity is in as a result. We are born weak (in the sense of ability to overcome sin) and are in the bondage of corruption. Next time, Lord willing, we’ll talk about “What was involved in the atonement?” Specifically focusing on the things that the scriptures tell us Christ had to accomplish.
      2. Don’t forget, it helps us if you give the podcast reviews on things such as Google or iTunes. You can also send me any questions, comments, or anything like that through my email which is said at the end of every episode. There is also a question button at the top of the webpage that will send me an email. The webpage is www.remnantbiblefellowship.com. Our Facebook page is facebook.com/rbfellowship. We’re on most podcast apps. We have a YouTube channel that most people don’t use. All that sort of stuff. All of these things are just outlets. The key thing is getting people to seek Christ for themselves.

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