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THE doctrine of the Atonement*, or reconciliation, lies at the very foundation of the Christian religion. Having thus the most important place in theology (aside from the glorification of God), a clear understanding of this subject is very essential, and this is generally conceded amongst Christian people. Nevertheless, the Atonement, though believed in, is little understood; the various ideas and theories respecting it are disconnected as well as vague; and faith built upon these disconnected and vague views of the foundation doctrine must, of necessity, be proportionately unstable, weak and vague. On the contrary, if this important subject be clearly seen, in all the grandeur of the proportions accorded it in the Word of God, as the foundation of the divine plan of salvation, it not only will firmly establish faith, rooting and grounding it upon correct principles, but it will serve as a guide in discriminating between truth and error in connection with all the minutiae of faith. When the foundation is well established and clearly discerned, and every item of faith built upon it is kept in exact alignment with the foundation, the entire faith superstructure will be perfect. As we will show later, every doctrine and theory may be brought in contact with this touchstone, and have its proportion of gold or of dross quickly determined thereby.
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*Atonement, or At-one-ment, is based on the Hebrew word Kaphar (Strong’s Hebrew #3722). This word is given several meanings: “(1) to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch (a) (Qal) to coat or cover with pitch (b) (Piel) 1. to cover over, pacify, propitate 2. to cover over, atone for sin, make atonement for 3. to cover over, atone for sin and persons by legal rites (c) (Pual) 1. to be covered over 2. to make atonement for (d) (Hithpael) to be covered” (Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius. “Hebrew Lexicon entry for Kaphar”. The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon”.. Another related Hebrew word is Kippur (Strong’s Hebrew #3725). In the New Testament Greek, the atonment is referred under the wordsKatallage (Strong’s Greek #2643), which appears at Romans 5:11; 11:15; 2 Corinthians 5:18,19, and Katallasso (Strong’s Greek #2644; Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 7:11; 2 Corinthians 5:18,19,20). Three other related words in Greek are Hilasmos (Strong’s Greek #2434; 1 John 2:2; 4:10), Hilasterion (Strong’s Greek #2435; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:5) and Hilaskomai (Strong’s Greek #2433, Luke 18:13; Hebrews 2:17). “The meaning of the word is simply at-one-ment, i.e., the state of being at one or being reconciled, so that atonement is reconciliation. Thus it is used to denote the effect which flows from the death of Christ.” (Easton, Matthew George. “Entry for Atonement”. Easton’s Bible Dictionary.)

Three Views of the Subject

¶2 There are two general views of the Atonement:

¶3 First View: What is known as the orthodox view, namely, that man, as a transgressor of the divine law, came under divine condemnation—”under wrath”; and that God, while hindered by Justice from exonerating the sinner, has provided a just redemption for him, and thus provided for the forgiveness of his sins, through the sacrifice of Christ. This entire work of satisfying the claims of Justice and making the sinner acceptable to God, is denominated the work of Atonement.

¶4 Second View: What is known as the unorthodox view of the Atonement (at one time represented chiefly by some Universalists, but which has recently been spreading rapidly and generally in every quarter of Christendom), approaches the subject from the opposite side: it presupposes no requirement on the part of divine justice of a sacrifice for the sinner’s transgression; it ignores the wrath of God as represented in any special sentence of death; it ignores “the curse.” It holds that God seeks and waits for man’s approach, placing no hindrance in the way, requiring no atonement for man’s sin, but requiring merely that man shall abandon sin and seek righteousness, and thus come into harmony with God—be at-one with God hence this view is generally styled At-one-ment, and is understood to signify harmony with righteousness regardless of the methods by which mankind may be brought into this state: atonement for sin being considered from the standpoint of expiation by the sinner himself, or else as unconditional forgiveness by God. From this standpoint our Lord Jesus and all his followers have part in the atonement, in the sense that they have taught and exhorted mankind to turn from sin to righteousness, and in no sin-offering or ransom sense.

¶5 A Third View: The view which we accept as the Scriptural one, but which has been overlooked very generally by theologians, embraces and combines both of the foregoing views. The Bible doctrine of the Atonement, as we shall endeavor to show, teaches clearly:

¶6 {a} That man was created perfect, in the image of God, but fell therefrom, through wilful disobedience, and came under the sentence of wrath, “the curse,” and thus the entire race became “children of wrath.” (Ephesian 2:3)

¶7 {b} While God justly executed against his disobedient creature the sentence of his law, death, and that without mercy, for over four thousand years, yet, nevertheless, blended with this justice and fidelity to principles of righteousness was the spirit of love and compassion, which designed an ultimate substitutional arrangement or plan of salvation, by which God might still be just and carry out his just laws against sinners, and yet be the justifier of all who believe in Jesus. (Romans 3:26) By this plan all the condemned ones might be relieved from the sentence without any violation of Justice, and with such a display of divine love and wisdom and power as would honor the Almighty, and prove a blessing to all his creatures, human and angelic —by revealing to all, more fully than ever before seen, the much diversified wisdom and grace of God. — Ephesians 3:10, Diaglott

¶8 {c} It was in the carrying out of this program of Atonement to the divine law for its transgression by father Adam, that our dear Redeemer died, “a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,” — 1 Timothy 2:6, King James Version.

¶9 {d} But the sacrifice for sins does not complete the work of Atonement, except so far as the satisfaction of the claim of Justice is concerned. By virtue of the ransom paid to Justice, a transfer of man’s account has been made, and his case, his indebtedness, etc., is wholly transferred to the account of the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid to Justice the full satisfaction of its claims against Adam, and his race. Thus Jesus, by reason of this “purchase” with his own precious blood, is now in consequence the owner, master, “Lord, of all.” — Acts 10:36; Romans 14:9; 1 Corinthians 15:27,47; Ephesians 1:20,21; Philippians 2:9,10.

¶10 {e} One object in this arrangement for Adam and his race was the annulment of their death sentence, which, so long as it remained, estopped Love from any efforts to recover the condemned, whose privileges of future life under any circumstances were wholly abrogated — destroyed.

¶11 {f} Another object was the placing of the fallen race beyond the reach of divine Justice, and under the special supervision of Jesus, who as the representative of the Father’s plan proposes not only to satisfy the claims of Justice, but also undertakes the instruction, correction and restitution of so many of the fallen race as shall show their desire for harmony with Justice. Such he will ultimately turn over to the Justice of the divine law, but then so perfected as to be able to endure its perfect requirements.

¶12 {g} Though originally the only separating influence between God and man was the divine sentence, now, after six thousand years of falling, degradation and alienation from God through wicked works — and because of ignorance, superstition, and the wiles of the Adversary — and because the divine character and plan have been misrepresented to men, we find the message of grace and forgiveness unheeded. Although God freely declares, since the ransom was accepted, that he is now ready to receive sinners back into harmony with himself and to eternal life, through the merit of Christ’s sacrifice, nevertheless the majority of mankind are slow to believe the good tidings, and correspondingly slow to accept their conditions. Some have become so deluded by the sophistries of Satan, by which he has deceived all nations (Revelation 20:3), that they do not believe that there is a God; others believe in him as a great and powerful adversary, without love or sympathy, ready and anxious to torment them to all eternity; others are confused by the Babel of conflicting reports that have reached them, concerning the divine character, and know not what to believe; and, seeking to draw near unto God, are hindered by their fears and by their ignorance. Consequently, as a matter of fact, the number who have yet availed themselves of the opportunity of drawing nigh unto God through faith in the blood of Christ is a comparatively small one — “a little flock.” — Romans 3:25; Ephesians 2:13; Luke 12:32.

¶13 {h} Nevertheless, the sacrifice for sins was not for the few, but for the “many,” — “for all.” (1 Timothy 2:5,6) “Through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19, New American Standard Version) And it is a part of the divine program that he who redeemed all with his own precious blood shall ultimately make known to all men, “to every creature,” the good tidings of their privilege under divine grace, to return to at-one-ment with their Creator.

¶14 {i} Thus far only the saints have been benefited by the Atonement, except indirectly; but the teaching of the Scriptures is that the saints (Ephesians 1:18; Colossians 1:26) shall constitute a “Kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6; Daniel 7:22,27), “a kingdom and priests” (Revelation 5:10, New American Standard Version) or “royal priesthood,” (2 Peter 2:9) with Christ the Royal High Priest (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14,15; 5:1), and that during the Millennial age this Kingdom class, this royal priesthood, shall fully and completely accomplish for mankind the work of removing the blindness which Satan and error and degradation brought upon them (2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 12:9; Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:9; 25:7; Revelations 21:1-5; 22:2), and shall bring back to full at-one-ment with God whosoever wills, of all the families of the earth. — Revelation 22:17.

¶15 {j} In harmony with this is the apostle’s statement that we, believers, the saints, have received the atonement. (Romans 5:11) The provision for atonement was made, so far as God was concerned, eighteen centuries ago, and that for all; but only believers have received it in the sense of accepting the opportunity which the grace of God has thus provided — and the rest of mankind are blinded. “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.” — 2 Corinthians 4:4.

¶16 {k} In harmony with this thought also is the statement of scripture, that the first work of Christ in connection with his Millennial reign, will be to bind, or restrain, Satan, so that he will deceive the nations no more for the thousand years. (Revelation 20:3) We also have the numerous statements of the prophets, to the effect that when the Kingdom of God shall be established in the earth, the knowledge of Yahweh will fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep, and none will need to say to his neighbor, “Know Yahweh”. (Hebrews 8:11; Jeremiah 31:34) Additionally, we have the petition of the Lord’s prayer, “May your kingdom come. May your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” — These scriptures agree with what the apostle expressly declares, that God desires all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. — 1 Timothy 2:4.

¶17 {l} Therefore, the Atonement is in two phases — the satisfaction of Justice, as well as the bringing back into permanent harmony or at-one-ment with God of so many of his creatures as, under full light and knowledge, will avail themselves of the privileges and opportunities of the New Covenant. The atonement work continues until the close of the Millennial Age, when all who have willfully and intelligently rejected divine favor, offered through Christ, “will be destroyed from among the people,” with “an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” — with a destruction from which there will be no hope of recovery by future resurrection. — Acts 3:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:9.

¶18 {m} Then the great work of the Atonement will be completed. All things in heaven and in earth will be found in harmony with God, praising him for all his munificence and grace through Christ. (Psalm 103:19-22; 148:3-10; Revelation 5:13; Philippians 2:9-11) There will be no more dying and no more sighing, no more pain there, because the former things will have passed away (Revelation 21:1-3) — as the result of the work of the Atonement, commenced by the propitiation of Justice by our Redeemer’s sacrifice, concluded by the full reconciliation of all found worthy of eternal life.

¶19 However the word Atonement may be viewed, it must be conceded that its use at all, as between God and man, implies a difficulty, a difference, an opposition, existing between the Creator and the creature — otherwise they would be at one, and there would be no need of a work of atonement, from either standpoint. And here particularly we discern the deadly conflict that exists between the Bible and the modern doctrine of evolution as the explanation of the origin of man, which, for the past century in particular, has been permeating the faith of Christian people of all denominations, and which shows itself even in many theological schools and pulpits of Christendom.

¶20 The theory that the first man evolved from lower forms of life denies the fall of man; denies that he ever was in the image and likeness of God; denies that he was ever in a fit condition to be on trial before the bar of exact Justice; denies that he ever sinned in such a trial, and that he ever was sentenced to death. It claims that death, so far from being a penalty is but another step in the process of evolution; it holds that man, instead of falling from the image and likeness of God into sin and degradation, has been rising from the condition of lesser sentient abilities into greater levels of sentient abilities. The logical further steps of the theory would evidently be, to deny that there could be any justice on God’s part in condemning man for rising from a lower to a higher plane, and denying, consequently, that Justice could accept a sin-offering for man, when there had been no sin on man’s part to require such an offering. Consistently with this thought, it claims that Christ was not a sin-offering, not a sacrifice for sins — except in the same sense, they would say, that any patriot might be a sacrifice for his country; namely, that he laid down his life in helping to lift the race forward into greater liberties and privileges.

¶21 But we find that the Word of God most absolutely contradicts this entire theory, so that no harmony is possible between the scripture teaching and the teaching of evolution of man from lower forms of life — science falsely so-called. (1 Timothy 6:20, King James Version) Whoever believes in the evolution theory as an explanation of the origin of man, to that extent disbelieves the Scriptural teaching; and yet we find a very large number of Christian people vainly struggling and attempting to harmonize these antagonizing teachings. To whatever extent they hold the theory of evolution to account for how man can be, to that extent they are off the only foundation for faith which God has provided; to that extent they are prepared for further errors, which the adversary will be sure to bring forward to their attention, errors presented so forcibly from the worldly-wise standpoint that they would, if it all possible, even lead astray the elect. (Matthew 24:24*) But the elect have in the scriptures “the faith once delivered to the saints”; by God through his holy spirit to aid them to hold to the doctrine of the atonement. Having also the holy spirit, if they submit to what the spirit has revealed, they will thus be aided to guard against every item and feature of the evolution theory respecting the origin of man, for the faithful will be willing to be taught by God through holy spirit, by means of the apostles and the prophets (Luke 11:49; Ephesians 2:20; 3:5; 2 Peter 3:2), especially upon this doctrine of the atonement, which lies at the very foundation of revealed religion and Christian faith.

¶22 The Scriptures unequivocally testify that God created man in his own image and likeness — mental and moral; that man, an earthly being, was the moral and intellectual image or likeness of his Creator, a spirit being. (Genesis 1:26,27; 9:6) They declare his communion with his Creator in the beginning (Genesis 2:16); they declare that his Creator approved him as his workmanship, and pronounced him “very good,” very acceptable, very pleasing; they show that the proposition of life or death was set before the sinless and incorrupt Adam, and that when he became a transgressor it was an intelligent and willful act, inasmuch as it is declared that Adam “was not deceived.” They declare the beginning of the execution of the death penalty. They record the progress for centuries of the death sentence upon the race. They point out how God revealed to faithful Abraham his purpose, his intention, not at once, but later on, to bring in a blessing to the race, which he declared he had cursed with the sentence of death. — Genesis 1:31; 2:16,17; 3:23; 1 Timothy 2:14; Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 3:17.
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Since the curse or penalty of sin was death, the blessings promised implied life from the dead, life more abundant: and the promise to Abraham was that in some unexplained way the savior who would accomplish this work of blessing the world should come through Abraham’s posterity. The same promises were, with more or less clearness, reiterated to Isaac, to Jacob and to the children of Israel. The prophets also declared that the Messiah coming should be a Lamb slain, a sin-offering, one who should “pour out his soul unto death,” for our sins, and not for his own. And they portrayed also the result of his sacrifice for sins, in the glory and blessing that should follow; telling how ultimately his Kingdom shall prevail, and, as the Sun of Righteousness, he shall bring into the world the new day of blessing and life and joy, which shall dispel the darkness and gloom and the sorrow of the night of weeping, which now prevails as the result of original sin and the fall, and inherited evil tendencies. Isa. 53:10-12; 35; 60; 61

The Apostle Peter, speaking under the inspiration of the holy Spirit, so far from telling us that man had been created on the plane of a monkey, and had risen to his present degree of development, and would ultimately attain perfection by the same process of evolution, points, on the contrary, a reverse lesson, telling us that Christ died for our sins, and that, as a consequence of the redemption accomplished by his sacrifice, there shall ultimately come to mankind, at the second advent of our Lord, great times of refreshing — times of restitution of all things, which, he declares, “God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21) Whoever may think the Apostle Peter was preaching a doctrine of evolution, when preaching the gospel of restitution, must have closed his eyes and stopped the operation of his reasoning faculties; for if the original condition of man was that of a monkey, or if it was anything whatever inferior to our present condition, the Apostle would have been the veriest fool to hold out, as a grand hope and prospect, times of restitution, for restitution means a restoration of that condition which previously existed.

On the contrary, the Apostle’s words are thoroughly out of harmony with and antagonistic to the theory of evolution, [E24] and in strictest harmony with the doctrine of the Atonement, reconciliation and restitution — in strictest harmony with the Scriptural teaching that mankind were sold under sin, and became the slaves of sin, and suffered the degradation of sin, as the result of father Adam’s original disobedience and its death-penalty. Restitution, the good tidings which Peter preached, implies that something good and grand and valuable was lost, and that it has been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, and that it shall be restored, as the result of this redemption, at the second advent of Christ. And the Apostle’s reference to the prophets, declaring that these restitution times were mentioned by all of them who were holy, distinctly implies that the hope of restitution is the only hope held out before the world of mankind by divine inspiration.

All the Apostles similarly pointed backward to the fall from divine favor, and to the cross of Christ as the point of reconciliation as respects divine Justice, and forward to the Millennial age as the time for the blessing of all the world of mankind with opportunities of knowledge and help in their reconciliation to God. They all point out the present age as the time for the gathering out of the elect Church to be associates with Messiah (his “royal priesthood” and “peculiar people”) to cooperate with him as his “bride,” his “body,” in the work of conferring upon the world the blessings of restitution secured for them by the sacrifice finished at Calvary.

Mark the words of the Apostle Paul along this line: “By one man’s disobedience sin entered into the world” — and death as a result of sin; and so death passed upon all men, for [by reason of inherited sin and sinful dispositions] all are sinners. The Apostle Paul quite evidently was no more an Evolutionist than the Apostle Peter and the prophets. Mark the hope which he points out as the very essence of the Gospel, saying: “God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us; much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath [E25] through him.” (Rom. 5:8,9) Here is a specific declaration that the race was under divine wrath; that the saving power was the blood of Christ, the sacrifice that he gave on our behalf; and that this sacrifice was an expression of divine love and grace. The Apostle proceeds to show the work of Atonement, and the restitution which will follow as a result, saying: “As through one offense [Adam's disobedience] sentence came upon all men to condemnation [the death sentence]; so also through one righteous act the free gift [the reversal of the sentence] came on all men unto justification of life. For as through the disobedience of one man [Adam] many were made sinners [all who were in him], so by the obedience of one [Jesus] many [all who ultimately shall avail themselves of the privileges and opportunities of the New Covenant] shall be constituted righteous.” Rom. 5:12,18,19

The same Apostle, in many other of his masterly and logical discourses, presents the thought that the Atonement, so far as God is concerned, is a thing of the past — finished when “we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,” while we were yet sinners. (Rom. 5:10) In this he evidently did not refer to a work accomplished in the sinner, reconciling the sinner to God, because he states it in the reverse manner, and declares that it was accomplished, not in us, but by Christ for us, and while we were sinners. Note also that in various of his learned and logical discourses he points out a work of blessing to the world, to be accomplished through the glorified Church, under Christ, her divinely appointed Head, showing that it will consist in bringing the world to a knowledge of God’s grace in Christ, and that thus so many of the redeemed world as may be willing can return to at-one-ment with their Creator during the Millennial Kingdom — a restitution of the divine favor lost in Eden.

As an illustration of this point note the argument of Rom. 8:17-24. Here the Apostle distinctly marks as separate salvation of the Church and the subsequent salvation [E26] or deliverance of the world, the “groaning creation.” He calls attention to the Church as the prospective joint-heir with Christ, who, if faithful in suffering with him in this present time, shall ultimately share his glory in his Kingdom. He assures us that these sufferings of this present time are unworthy of comparison with the glory that shall be revealed in us by and by. And then he proceeds to say that this glory to be revealed in the Church after its sufferings are all complete, is the basis for all the earnest expectations of the groaning creation — whose longings and hopes necessarily await fruition in the time when the sons of God shall be revealed or manifested.

Now the sons of God are unrevealed; the world knows them not, even as it knew not their Master; and though the world, indeed, looks forward with a vague hope to a golden age of blessing, the Apostle points out that all their earnest expectations must wait for the time when the Church, the sons of God, shall be glorified and shall be manifested as the kings and priests of God’s appointment, who shall reign over the earth during the Millennial age, for the blessing of all the families of the earth, according to the riches of divine grace as revealed by God in his promise to Abraham, saying: “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Gal. 3:8,16,29

The Apostle proceeds to show that mankind in general, the intelligent earthly creation, was subjected to frailty (”vanity”) by heredity, by the transgression of father Adam, according to divine providence, and yet is not left without hope; because under divine arrangement also, a sacrifice for sins has been provided, and provision made that ultimately mankind in general may be emancipated, set free, from the slavery of sin, and from its penalty, death, and may attain the glorious freedom (from sickness, pain, trouble, sorrow) which is the liberty of all who are the sons of God. It was from this plane of sonship and such “liberty” that mankind fell through disobedience, and to the same [E27] plane of human sonship they will be privileged to return, as a result of the great sin-offering at Calvary, and of the completion of the work of Atonement in them, reconciling them to the divine law by the Redeemer, as the Great Prophet, the antitype of Moses. (Acts 3:22,23) The Apostle also points out that the Church, which already has received the Atonement (accepted the divine arrangement) and come into harmony with God, and has been made possessor of the first-fruits of the spirit, nevertheless, by reason of the surroundings, groans also, and waits for her share of the completed work of the Atonement, in her complete reception to divine favor, the deliverance of the body of Christ, the Church, in the first resurrection. Rom. 8:23-25

These two features of the Atonement, (1) the righting of the wrong, and (2) the bringing of the separated ones into accord, are shown in the divine proposition of a New Covenant, whose mediator is Christ Jesus our Lord. When father Adam was perfect, in complete harmony with his Creator, and obedient to all of his commands, a covenant between them was implied, though not formally expressed; the fact that life in its perfection had been given to father Adam, and that additionally he had been given dominion over all the beasts and fish and fowl, and over all the earth as the territory of his dominion, and the additional fact that it was declared that if he would violate his faithfulness to the Great King, Jehovah, by disobedience, he would forfeit his life and vitiate all those rights and blessings which had been conferred upon him — this implied, we say, a covenant or agreement on God’s part with his creature that his life was everlasting, unless he should alter the matter by disobedience, and bring upon himself a sentence of death.

The disobedience of Adam, and its death penalty, left him utterly helpless, except as the Almighty provided for the recovery of the race through the New Covenant, and the New Covenant, as the Apostle points out, has a mediator — God, on the one part, deals with the mediator, and not [E28] with the sinner; the sinner, on the other part, deals with the mediator, and not with God. But before our Lord Jesus could become the Mediator he must do for mankind a work which, in this figure, is represented as sealing the New Covenant with his own precious blood — “The blood of the New Covenant.” (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Heb. 7:22; 9:15-20) That is to say, God, in justice, cannot receive nor deal with the sinner, either directly, or indirectly through a mediator, so as to give the sinner a release from the sentence of death, and reconciliation to God, with its accompanying blessing, the gift of eternal life — except first divine Justice be remembered and satisfied. Hence it was that our Lord Jesus, in paying our penalty by his death, made possible the sealing of the New Covenant between God and man, under the terms of which all who come unto God by him, the mediator, are acceptable.

Reconciliation with God, at-one-ment with him, was impossible until, first, the redemption had been secured with the precious blood, that the one seeking at-one-ment might approach God, through the mediator of the New Covenant: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) It is for this reason that the highest privilege of the most favored of mankind, previous to the commencement of Christ’s sacrifice, was that of “servants” and “friends” of God — none could be accorded the high privilege of sonship (with all that this implies of divine favor and eternal life), and none were thus recognized. (John 1:12; Matt. 11:11) Thus it will be seen that those who ignore the sin-offering and Justice-appeasement features of the Atonement are ignoring important and indispensable parts — primary and fundamental features. But not less do others err, who, while recognizing the sacrifice of Christ as the sacrifice of the Atonement for sealing the New Covenant, ignore a work of reconciliation toward men, by which men are to be brought, through the operation of the New Covenant, back into harmony with God. [E29]

Nor can this work of Atonement, so far as mankind is concerned, be accomplished instantaneously and by faith. It may begin in an instant and by faith, and at-one-ment may be reckonedly accomplished between the sinner and the Almighty through faith; but the scope of the At-one-ment which God purposes is grander and higher than this. His arrangement is that those of the human race who desire to return to at-one-ment with him (and his righteous law) shall be reckonedly accepted through their Mediator, but shall not be fully and completely received (by the Father) while they are actually imperfect. Hence, while it is the work of the Mediator (Head and “body”) to proclaim to mankind the fact that God has provided a sin-offering, whereby he can be just and yet receive the sinner back into harmony with himself, and that he is now willing to confer the blessing of sonship and its eternal life and freedom from corruption, it is additionally his work to make clear to all mankind that this offer of salvation is a great boon and should be promptly accepted and that its terms are but a reasonable service; and additionally to this, it is the Mediator’s work, as the Father’s representative, to actually restore — to mentally, morally and physically restitute mankind — so many of them as will receive his ministry and obey him. Thus eventually the Mediator’s work will result in an actual at-one-ment between God and those whom the Mediator shall restore to perfection.

This great work of the Mediator has appropriated to it the entire Millennial Age; it is for this purpose that Messiah’s Kingdom shall be established in the earth, with all power and authority: it is for this purpose that he must reign, that he may put down every evil influence which would hinder the world of mankind from coming to a knowledge of this gracious truth of divine love and mercy; this provision under the New Covenant, that “whosoever will” may return to God. But while the great Mediator shall thus receive, bless and restore, under the terms of the New Covenant, all who desire fellowship with God through him, [E30] he shall destroy from among the people, with an everlasting destruction, all who, under the favorable opportunities of that Millennial Kingdom, refuse the divine offer of reconciliation. Acts 3:23; Matt. 25:41,46; Rev. 20:9,14,15; Prov. 2:21,22

The close of the Millennial age will come after it shall have accomplished all the work of mediation for which it was designed and appointed. And there the mediatorial office of Christ will cease because there will be no more rebels, no more sinners. All desirous of harmony with God will then have attained it in perfection; and all wilful sinners will by that time have been cut off from life. Then will be fulfilled our Lord’s prophecy that all things in heaven and earth will be found praising God; and then will be realized the divine promise that there shall be no more dying, no more sighing and no more crying, because the former things (conditions) will have passed away. Rev. 21:4; Psa. 67

When the great Mediator-King shall resign his completed work to the Father, delivering up his office and kingdom as the Apostle explains (1 Cor. 15:24-28), what lasting results may we expect the great Mediator’s redemptive work toward mankind to show?

It will have accomplished:

(1) The sealing of the New Covenant with his own precious blood; making its gracious provisions possible to all mankind.

(2) The reconciling or bringing back into harmony with God of a “little flock,” a “royal priesthood,” zealous of good works — willing to lay down their lives in God’s service; who, because thus copies of their Savior, shall by divine arrangement be privileged to be his joint-heirs in the Millennial Kingdom and partakers of his divine nature. 1 Pet. 2:9,10; Titus 2:14; Rom. 8:29

(3) The reconciliation, the full restitution, of an earth full of perfect, happy human beings — all of mankind found desirous of divine favor upon the divine terms: these the [E31] Mediator turns over to the Father, not only fully restored but fully instructed in righteousness and self-control and full of the spirit of loyalty to God, the spirit of holiness and possessed of its blessed fruits — meekness, patience, kindness, godliness — love. In this condition they shall indeed be blameless and irreproachable, and capable of standing every test.

(4) The destruction of all others of the race, as unworthy of further favor — the cumberers of the ground, whose influence could not be beneficial to others, and whose continued existence would not glorify their Creator.

Thus, at the close of the Millennial age, the world will be fully back in divine favor, fully at-one with God, as mankind was representatively in harmony, at-one with God, in the person of Adam, before transgression entered the world: but additionally they will possess a most valuable experience with evil; for by it they will have learned a lesson on the sinfulness of sin, and the wisdom, profit and desirableness of righteousness. Additionally, also, they will possess an increase of knowledge and the wider exercise of the various talents and abilities which were man’s originally in creation, but in an undeveloped state. And this lesson will be profitable, not to man alone, but also to the holy angels, who will have witnessed an illustration of the equilibrium of divine Justice, Love, Wisdom and Power in a measure which they could not otherwise have conceived possible. And the lesson fully learned by all, we may presume, will stand for all time, applicable to other races yet uncreated on other planets of the wide universe.

And what will be the center of that story as it shall be told throughout eternity? It will be the story of the great ransom finished at Calvary and of the atonement based upon that payment of the corresponding price, which demonstrated that God’s Love and Justice are exactly equal.

In view of the great importance of this subject of the Atonement, and in view also of that fact that it is so imperfectly comprehended by the Lord’s people, and in view, additionally, [E32] of the fact that errors held upon other subjects hinder a proper view of this important subject, we propose, in its discussion in this volume, to cover a wide range, and to inquire:

(1) Concerning Jehovah, the Author of the plan of the Atonement.

(2) Concerning the Mediator, by whom the Atonement sacrifice was made, and through whose instrumentality all of its gracious provisions are to be applied to fallen man.

(3) Concerning the holy Spirit, the channel or medium through which the blessings of reconciliation to God are brought to mankind.

(4) Respecting mankind, on whose behalf this great plan of Atonement was devised.

(5) Respecting the ransom, the center or pivotal point of the Atonement.

Taking these subjects up in this, which we believe to be their proper and logical order, we hope to find the divine statement respecting these various subjects so clear, so forceful, so satisfactory, as to remove from our minds much of the mist, mystery and misconception which has hitherto beclouded this admittedly important subject of the Atonement. But to attain these desirable results we must not come to these subjects hampered by human creeds or opinions. We must come to them untrammeled by prejudice, ready, willing, nay anxious, to be taught of God; anxious to unlearn whatever we have hitherto received merely through our own conjectures or through the suggestions of others, that is not in harmony with the Word of the Lord; anxious also to have the whole counsel of God upon every feature of this subject. To all who thus come, who thus seek, who thus knock, the great Teacher opens the way, and “they shall be all taught of God.” Isa. 54:13

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Last update: March 13, 2003 *** We still have more to add to this document, so please check back later, or join our mailing list to be informed of updates.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Ransom Sacrifice (RL Search Link)
• Hope of Life After Death (Hereafter Link)
• Mankind’s Course to the Day of Judgment (Hereafter Link)
• The Watchtower’s Self-Contradiction About the Ransom (Foc. on JWs Link)
• The Ransom For All (Studies Link)

2 Thessalonians 1:4 so as for us to boast ourselves in you in the assemblies of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions, and the afflictions which you endure,
2 Thessalonians 1:5 a clear token of the just judgment of God, for you to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed suffer;
2 Thessalonians 1:6 since it is a just thing with God to pay back tribulation to the ones troubling you,
2 Thessalonians 1:7 and to give you, those being afflicted, relief with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from Heaven with angels of His power,
2 Thessalonians 1:8 in flaming fire giving full vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 Thessalonians 1:9 who will pay the penalty: everlasting destruction from the face of the Lord, “and from the glory of His strength,” when He comes to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all those who believe in that Day, because our testimony to you was believed.  — J.P. Green’s Literal Translation

These verses, especially 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9, are often quoted by those who believe that God will eternally destroy millions of people before the day of judgment, so that they die eternally without receiving any benefit from the ransom. The thought usually alleged is that in the Armageddon battle, God will  eternally destroy those who do not know him. Often this is associated with the non-acceptance of a certain doctrine, or religious organization. The scripture is offered as proof that many who have not believed in this age suffer the punishment of eternal destruction. Is this, however, what Paul is speaking of?

To make 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9 mean that millions will be eternally destroyed without having received the benefit of the ransom sacrifice, the verses have to be taken out of context and misapplied to the generation living at the end of the age rather than to those who persecuted the Christians in the first century. In the context 2 Thessalonians 1:8, Paul is speaking about those who were persecuting the Christians in the first century. He speaks of their patience under persecution, and how their patience offers a sign of the righteous judgment of God toward them, that they be found worthy of the kingdom, for which they were patiently suffering persecution. Then Paul speaks of God’s right to repay affliction to those who had been afflicting them, and that there would be such when the Lord Jesus is revealed. When the Lord Jesus is revealed is speaking of the same time when the “the sons of God” are likewise revealed (Romans 8:19), for which revealing the groaning creation is unknowingly in expectation. The result of the revealing of the Sons of God is for the purpose that “that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.” — Romans 8:19-22.

2 Thessalonians 1:6
eiper dikaion para thew antapodounai
IF EVEN RIGHTEOUS (THING) BESIDE GOD TO GIVE BACK INSTEAD
1487_3 1342 3844 2316 0467
tois thlibousin humas thlipsin
TO THE (ONES) MAKING TRIBULATION FOR YOU TRIBULATION
3588 2346 4771_7 2347
Westcott & Hort Interlinear

While it is righteous on God’s part to seek retribution on those making tribulation for those first century Christians, God was not at that time doing so. In a general way there was a retribution upon the Jews who persecuted the Christians, especially with the destruction of Jerusalem and Masada, but this retribution was not particularly because of the Jew’s persecution of Christians, and did not include others who were not Jews, but who persecuted the Christians in Thessalonica. What Paul is saying is that God would have been just had he brought retribution upon those who were persecuting them, but he doesn’t, for some reason.

Peter, in effect, speaks of the same thing, when he said:

2 Peter 2:9 – [Yahweh] knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment to the day of judgment.

The unrighteous are kept under the punishment in Adam until the day of judgment, when they will be judged, not according to Adam’s sin, but according to how they respond to the books that are opened in that “last day”, the day of judgment.

After speaking of the fact God would have also been righteous to have brought retribution upon those who persecuted those first century Christians, then Paul speaks of the time coming when such will be judged individually, when Jesus will be revealed, made known. Paul is not saying that those who persecuted the first century Christians will be raised back to life “before” the end of the age in order to be punished in the Battle of the Great Day, but he tells the first century Christians that they should be revealed in that there will be a coming day of judgment. The “day of judgment”, while it is a time of rejoicing, a time of blessing, it will also be a time of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28), especially in the early arrival of many from the graves when they realize that they are not in positions where they thought they would be. It will not be easy at first for many, as Jesus said to his twelve apostles when he sent them out to preach:

Matthew 10:14 Whoever doesn’t receive you, nor hear your words, as you go forth out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet.
Matthew 10:15 Most assuredly I tell you, It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Jesus did not say that they would not be raised in the resurrection of judgment, or that they were condemned to the second death, but he speaks of both those who didn’t not receive his apostles, as well as those of the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, as being raised in the resurrection of judgment, at which time it would easier for those of the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, than for those Jews who did not receive his apostles.

Paul is basically speaking of the same principle in 2 Thessalonians 1:4-7, and he returns to this in verse 10, in speaking of those who believe in that day, that day of judgment, when Jesus will glorified with the saints. (Romans 8:19,21) His speaking of the time of Jesus’ being revealed is the same time described in Revelation 20:12, when the dead are judged individually, not in Adam, by the things recorded in the books that then opened [revealed] to them.

But in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 Paul describes the end result of the day of judgment on those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news (being made known, revealed, to them at time), which needs to be taken in harmony with other scriptures, such as Revelation 20:15, for anyone, after having undergone the kingdom blessings who are not found written in the book of life, are cast into the lake of fire. This is also spoken of in Isaiah 26:10: “Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not see the majesty of Yahweh.” Thus there is God’s final vengeance on those who do not know Him, and who do not obey the good news, and it will indeed be eternal destruction, for there is to be no ransom for those in the second death, but this final vengeance is taken at the end of the millennial reign, not before it. — Hebrews 10:26.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Ransom Sacrifice (RL Search Link)
• Hope of Life After Death (Hereafter Link)
• Mankind’s Course to the Day of Judgment (Hereafter Link)
• The Watchtower’s Self-Contradiction About the Ransom (Foc. on JWs Link)
• 2 Peter 3:9 – Desires All to Attain to Repentance

“According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 3:10,11

(1) The individual faith of each disciple of Jesus is a building, and as such must have both foundation and superstructure. Every principle of truth or error adopted becomes a part of our faith-building. A building made of wood, and thatched with straw, may look well and for a time protect, but it will not endure like a better and more costly structure. So a faith building constructed with men’s traditions, may for a time look passably well, be less costly and more quickly finished than one built from the precious truths patiently excavated from God’s Word. The former is easily swept away with the storm of infidelity which does not even shake the latter. The one will stand the test of fire and protect its owner, the other will but feed the flame and endanger the owner.

(2) The building of our faith God leaves largely with us. He furnishes us the mine of truth. (John 8:31,32) He places tools within our reach. (2 Peter 1:3) He even urges us to build well with enduring materials, adding virtue to faith, knowledge to virtue, self-control to knowledge, patience to knowledge, etc. Thus he would have us grow in his favor and knowledge and love, following examples of building which he has furnished. — 2 Peter 1:5-7; 3:18

(3) “For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11) This statement of the importance of Jesus as the foundation of all faith toward God, is in full accord with the statement that “There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, in which we must be saved!” (Acts 4:12) No other basis of faith will do. Yet some start off all wrong by laying a basis for faith on another foundation, even another Jesus. (2 Corinthians 11:4) Some are quickly influenced by this or that religious organization’s works into believing that the leaders of the organization are God’s specially appointed channel for our time. Some have been led into Mormonism, the “JW”s, and other groups who have presented certain “evidences” that their group is the one true religion. The “evidences”, usually of some “works” they are doing, are very deceptive and often lead one into accepting their leaders as a foundation for faith. Beware of these tactics! — Matthew 7:21-23.

(4) Those who build on the rock foundation of Jesus are his disciples no matter how poor their faith may be when they begin to build. Even though they build entirely with the wood, hay, and stubble of men’s traditions, yet as builders upon the Rock they are disciples of Jesus. Though in the DAY OF YAHWEH their works will suffer loss, yet such themselves will be saved so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:14,15) These may suffer loss, but will do so only for disciplining purposes that “the spirit may be saved [delivered] in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 5:5) Thus God has arranges for a fierce trial of faith to come upon all who profess to be on the Rock, Christ Jesus. (1 Peter 1:6,7) Everything which is of man and not from God’s Word will be burned up. — Hebrews 12:26-29.

(5) Many Christians have not carried out their dedication to give up worship according to the flesh. (Colossians 3:5-10) Whether through ignorance, or having knowledge, many desire to continue in the worship of the traditions of men, the idols of the popular churches, and thus have their worship adulterated before God. (Luke 12:47,48; 1 Corinthians 10:14; Ezekiel 23:37) Many may base their faith in creation, as may be evidence worship according to the flesh, such idolizing the cross,  Christmas tree, New Year’s revelries, Santa Claus (Jolly Old Saint Nick – the devil), etc., etc. (Galatians 5:19-23; 2 Corinthians 6:16,17 See: Idolatry Provokes Yahweh’s Anger.) Others hold onto certain doctrines which lead them away from preaching the kingdom and its hope for all mankind. (Ephesians 4:14,15) They spend hours and hours (that could have been used in preaching the Good News) trying to prove certain pronunciation of words or names, trying to prove genealogies, etc. — 1 Timothy 1:3,4; 6:4; 2 Timothy 2:14.

ON WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING?

(6) What we have just seen regarding faith structures is important, but our present question is yet more so, because if we are not building on the rock foundation, Jesus Christ, all our faith is vain and all our hope delusive. — Ephesians 5:5-7; Luke 6:49.

(7) To believe that Mohammed once lived and died on earth does not constitute us Mohammedans, nor give us a basis for faith and hope for a future life. Neither does the simple belief that Jesus once lived and died on earth constitute us his disciples, nor give us a basis for future life. What is needed as a foundation is the belief that Jesus died as our Redeemer. He “died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” “gave himself a ransom for all”; Yahweh “has laid on him the iniquity of us all”, and that “with his stripes we are healed.” Only this conviction will constitute us his disciples and give a firm foundation for faith that our sins are canceled, and that in his due time all may be released from sin’s penalty death. (1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Timothy 2:6; Isaiah 53:5,6; 1 Peter 2:24) Upon the foundation, then, we build our works in accordance with obedience to Jesus. — John 14:15, 1 John 2:3-5.

(8) Some build on “right doing” as a basis of hope that God will grant them eternal life. These are not building on the Rock, Jesus. Instead they are building upon their own works. Of this class were the Jews, who sought to justify themselves. (Luke 16:15) But Paul assures us that they were not building on a good foundation, for “by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight.” — Romans 3:20.

(9) Others build their hope of salvation on the love of God. They feel sure that because God is very pitiful and of tender mercy, therefore he will ultimately, eternally save every one from death. Such seem to forget that God had the same love for mankind for the past six thousand years, yet he has permitted mankind to go down lower and lower into misery and death. We suggest to these that if God has so long kept love subservient to justice, and never overruled his original sentence of death, their hope rests on a sandy foundation. God’s Word declares concerning him: “with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.” (James 1:17; Exodus 34:7) Such are not true Disciples of Jesus because they are building a hope and faith on the love of God and not on the only foundation, Jesus Christ. The love of God provided the foundation, but the love of God is not the foundation needed to build true faith.

(10) Others build on the justice of God and boldly declare that God is bound by principles of justice to save all men out of Adamic death. Their argument is that God placed man in his present condition of sin, misery and death, and that in justice to his creatures he must restore them. To those who reason in this manner and build their hopes of future life on God’s justice, we would suggest that if this reasoning is correct, then many scriptures which tell us that by grace (unearned favor) we are saved, are all untrue, because if Yahweh is obligated to save men on such alleged principles of justice, then salvation is not of grace (unearned favor), but of justice. We suggest, further, that if God is bound in justice to save all men out of death, it is proper to infer that God has been unjust toward man for six thousand years. The inference, then, would be that God will sooner or later be obligated to change his methods and to do right — to turn from doing injustice to his creatures to doing justly to his creatures. Of course, those who believe the last-mentioned teaching would not state matters as we have presented them. Most have never thought of such theories, when reasoned out,  leads to dishonor  of the name of God. If they had, doubtless they would not be building their hopes on God’s justice — outside of his plan to redeem through Christ Jesus — for if he has been unjust for six thousand years, he might continue to be unjust indefinitely. Thus faith is left on an untrustworthy foundation.

(11) None of these theories are scriptural, hence none of them are proper foundations for faith. Any building fostered thereon is doomed to destruction. We ask the question: “Can those who build on these sandy foundations be properly termed disciples of Jesus?” Is not a disciple of Jesus one whose hopes of future life are built solely and only on the rock foundation which God has laid — Jesus Christ? “Thus says the Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner -[stone] of sure foundation: he who believes shall not be in haste.’ ” – Isaiah 28:16.

(12) Paul also declares the foundation of all true faith, saying: “I delivered to you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3) In the two preceding verses Paul tells us that this was the Good News which he preached, which they had received, and by which they might reckon themselves saved. This is not all of the Good News — no, there is much more, but it all comes as a consequence of this fundamental or foundation truth. Without this faith in Jesus as our Redeemer, who died and gave his life a ransom for our lives which were forfeited through Adam’s sin, we must see that we are still guilty and condemned before God’s law and could have no scriptural grounds for expecting future life. – Romans 5:18.

(13) It is in vain that any tell us that they are building on Christ because they acknowledge him as a leader and noble pattern. All men — yes, and demons also must acknowledge the grandeur and perfectness of Jesus’ life. All must admit that he is a noble example, but to acknowledge Jesus as the foundation of faith in a future life, is to recognize the fact that all men are sinners, and as such JUSTLY condemned to death, and that Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. (John 1:29) Thus, by paying the penalty of man’s sin – death – he procured for all a release from death, a right to life. He justifies them, or makes them righteous, having a right to life, which in his due time he will give them. – Romans 5:18, 8:24.

(14) Yahweh’s plan, looked at from the standpoint of his inspired word, recognizes the impartially just trial of Adam, his deliberate violation of God’s just and easy requirement, and the justice of enforcing the penalty which God threatened, that is, DEATH. “In the day of thine eating of it — dying thou dost die.” (Genesis 2:17, Young’s Literal Translation) God’s foreknowledge of the consequences of Adam’s sin cannot be urged against the justice of his trial, as the trial was the same and had the same results, as though God had not foreknown its result.

(15) God is not responsible for all the mental and physical imperfections of our race. These are traceable as results of sin to Adam our first parent. Here is a thought not generally recognized, that God creates only sinless beings such as Adam was before sin. All of the fallen, mentally and physically imperfect men and women, are not God’s creation, but the offspring of the fallen Adam. These imperfections, therefore, are not chargeable to God, but to Adam’s sin. All die, therefore, as a result of Adam’s unrighteousness and not of God’s injustice. If, then, God was just in condemning Adam, and was in no way responsible to Adam’s offspring, it must have been as the Bible says: “By grace [unmerited or undeserved favor] have you been saved.” (Ephesians 2:5,8) Yes, while we were in just condemnation as enemies and sinners, God so loved and pitied us that he gave his son, that he “by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9) To this agree the words of other scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12,17,19 and 11:32,33. If, then, the Scriptures are true, the theory that Yahweh has dealt unjustly toward the race in condemning all to death, and the argument that he is bound in justice to restore them to life, falls.

(16) Let us look at matters from the standpoint of the divine revelation instead of purely human reasoning. Love is a prominent factor in all of God’s plans and an element of the divine nature. Yet his foreknowledge and omnipotence make it unnecessary for his love to come into conflict with his justice. God had justly condemned man as unworthy of life. Love could not step in and reverse the decision and set the prisoner free without first satisfying the claims of justice. Should God do so we would properly consider him changeable, and his word untrustworthy. (Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 55:11) Not only so, but we would all see that either the first or the last decision was unjust. If the first decision was just, then the reversing of it was unjust. Likewise, if the last decision was just, then the first must have been unjust. God is just and true. In him is no variableness. (James 1:17) He will no means clear the guilty. (Exodus 34:7) The guilt of all our race was laid upon Jesus. (Isaiah 53:6) The claims of justice were satisfied in his sacrifice. If we say we have no sin [and hence no need of a savior to deliver us from the consequence of it death], “we make [God] a liar,” for he declares, “There is no one righteous. No, not one.” – 1 John 1:8,10; Romans 3:10.

(17) All of us enter life in this condition of sin and condemnation. (Romans 5:12,18) We can neither help ourselves nor each other, because all of us are descendants of Adam. (Psalm 49:7) All of us have received the same condemnation from Adam. But God’s love has provided a means by which he could clear the guilty race and restore them to life and at the same time do it justly. (Romans 3:26) He so loved the sinner, whom he had justly condemned, that he gave his Son that he should taste death (our penalty) for every man. (Romans 5:8; Hebrews 2:9) He was a propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins (the believers’), and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2) Thus God’s love and wisdom, operating in harmony with his justice, have succeeded in clearing the guilty without any injustice. Only God can be just and the justifier of sinners who accept the ransom `when brought to a full knowledge of it.’ (Romans 3:26; 1 Timothy 2:4) An earthly judge could not justly set a convicted and sentenced prisoner free. He could not declare the guilty one guiltless in the eyes of the law. But suppose some one came forward and paid the imposed penalty for the prisoner. The Judge would be just in justifying, or declaring right in the eyes of the law, the one whom he had formerly been just in condemning.

(18) Very few have actually seen into the “depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God.” (Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 2:10) Everyone of us have been condemned in Adam. (Roman 5:15-18) If we had been judged individually, more than likely we would have failed even as Adam did. Then each one of us would have needed an individual salvation. In other words, if 50 billion people had been tried individually, and 50 billion people had failed and were thus condemned, then 50 billion more perfect individuals would have been needed to offer up their lives as sacrifices for the 50 billion who had sinned.

(19) How much more economical is God’s wisdom. All of us were condemned in one man’s disobedience. (Romans 5:19) God concluded all in disobedience that he might have mercy on all. (Romans 11:32) By allowing all to be condemned in one, only one perfect human life would be needed as a sacrifice to buy back all the condemned. How grand, how marvelous is God’s wisdom! “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22, New American Standard Bible translation) “As through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. . . . . but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:17-21, New American Standard Version translation) “For what the law couldn’t 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.” (Romans 8:3) “God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.” (Romans 11:32) “Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! . . . For who has known the mind of [Yahweh]? Or who has been his counselor?” “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.” – Romans 11:33-36.

(20) In conclusion: On what are you building your faith? Is it on the sands of men’s opinions and theories? Or is it on the one rock foundation which Yahweh himself has laid — Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” — the one “who died for our sins”? — John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 15:3.

QUESTIONS
(1) Describe the symbolic building materials of the disciples of Jesus.

(2) What has Yahweh furnished us with to build our faith?

(3) How are some basing their faith on wrong foundations?

(4) What are those who build on the rock foundation with wood, hay, and stubble? What will be their lot in the Day of Yahweh?

(5) Describe some who are not completely obeying Jesus in these days.

(6) Why is it important to build on the right foundation?

(7) Why is simply believing that Jesus once walked this earth not sufficient? What is needed?

(8) Why is it that works of righteousness is not the proper foundation upon which to build?

(9) Why is it that the love of God is not a proper foundation upon which to build?

(10) Why is God’s justice not the proper foundation upon which to build?

(11) Can those who are building on the wrong foundation be properly termed “Disciples of Jesus”?

(12) What is the foundation of all true faith? What is the condition of those who do not have this faith?

(13) Are those who acknowledge Jesus as a leader and noble pattern truthfully building upon him as a foundation? Why?

(14) Was the trial placed upon Adam just?

(15) Is God responsible for the condition man is in today? Why is this important?

(16) Why could not Yahweh simply step in and reverse the sentence upon Adam and the human race? How did God’s wisdom see a way to bring man out of his condition?

(17) How did God remain just and yet justify the sinner?

(18) (a) How has the human race come into condemnation? (b) What would be case if each one of the human race had been judged individually?

(19) How is God’s wisdom demonstrated in the method he chose to condemn all in one?

(20) So what questions should we ask ourselves?

This study was adapted from the work of Morton Edgar: “Faith’s Foundations”.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Basis for Atonement (Not completed)
• Ransom Sacrifice (RL Search Link)
• Hope of Life After Death (Hereafter Link)
• Mankind’s Course to the Day of Judgment (Hereafter Link)
• The Watchtower’s Self-Contradiction About the Ransom (Foc. on JWs Link)

It is claimed that the New Testament records at least three men who were totally obedient to God’s Law: (1) The rich young ruler who declared to Jesus that he had obeyed the commandments since his youth and Jesus did not correct him; (2) Paul says in Philippians that he was blameless before the Law; (3) and Jesus himself. It is claimed that Jesus was set apart by God’s choosing, not by some mystical virgin birth or by some special nature. According this claim, Jesus was simply one of the flock chosen by God to fulfill his passover lamb: a human just like the rest of us.

We are not sure what is being mean by “nature” above, but we can say that Jesus was certainly not, by nature, a child of wrath, and never was such. — Ephesians 2:3.

Jesus’ “nature,” while he was in the days of his flesh (Hebrews 5:7), was just as Adam was before Adam sinned; he was indeed a human being, nothing more, nothing less, and we do not claim otherwise.

If by nature, it is meant that Jesus was God Most High and at the same a man, the Bible never says such a thing, and we certainly don’t believe such an idea.

Jesus was the first man to totally obey the Law, since all the rest (excluding Adam before he sinned) were under the bondage of corruption and of sinful flesh, by nature, children of wrath. Jesus, however, was not born with sinful flesh, since his flesh was specially prepared by his God and Father. (Hebrews 10:5) Jesus was like Adam was before Adam sinned; Adam was not at that time, by nature, a child of wrath, nor a son of disobedience. (Romans 5:14) No one had perfectly obeyed the Law Covenant before Jesus, else they, having obtained life through the Law, would be alive and walking around on the earth today (assuming that they did not return to sin and condemned to the second death), and Jesus’ ransom sacrifice would have been meaningless, since justification would have been by doing works of the Law. — Romans 2:13.

Jesus taught that, if a Jew under the Law Covenant could keep the commandments, that Jew could live forever. (Matthew 19:16-19; Mark 10:17-21; Luke 10:25-28) Paul also taught the same thing. (Romans 10:5) This offer was made, however, only to the Jew who was under the Law; no Gentile was ever made such an offer, and thus God overlooked the Gentile’s ignorance of the Law. The appeal to the Gentile to convert is in view of the judgment day of the age to come, when the new covenant will be enacted throughout the world. (Acts 17:30) Those whom become Gods’ sons in this age do so by partaking of the powers of that age to come. (Hebrews 6:5) Nevertheless, no Israelite has ever gained eternal life by keeping those commandments. We see no Jew walking around today who is several thousand years old, nor any one who has come out his dying condition that is upon him through Adam. The only one who did keep those commandments was Jesus, who gave up his right to eternal human life in order the redeem those under the curse of the law. — 2 Corinthians 5:12; Galatians 3:13.

Matthew 19:16 Behold, one came to him and said, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”
Matthew 19:17 He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Matthew 19:18 He said to him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not offer false testimony.
Matthew 19:19 Honor your father and mother. And, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 19:20 The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed from my youth. What do I still lack?”
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sad, for he was one who had great possessions.

Notice that the rich young ruler himself who made the claim of having obeyed the commandments. Jesus told him that if one were to keep the Law that one could enter into life. That is the promise of the Law. The man evidently realized that he did not have everlasting life (for he surely must have been aware of the aging and continued signs of a coming death), even with his claim to self-righteousness, self-justification, and asked what more he should do. Jesus, in effect, pointed out to that man that if he had actually kept that Law perfectly/completely, then he would have become perfected and would have life through that Law Covenant, as that is what the Law promises to any who perfectly do the Law. As a result, he would no longer have felt the condemnation of death in his body, and that man would still be alive on the earth today.

Although it is the promise of the Law that if one would keep the commandments, he would enter into life, not one person condemned in Adam entered into life by keeping those commandments. The lesson to be learned was that man, in his fallen condition, could not keep God’s perfect law perfectly. But foreknowing this, God had made preparation for a repetition of the typical atonement day every year, so that the people might continue striving to attain eternal life, and be reminded of the need of a sacrifice for sin. Year after year, century after century, they failed in keeping that law perfectly, and discouragement took the place of hope. God was teaching them a great lesson respecting the need of better sacrifices than those of bulls and of goats, and also teaching them that there is no other means of justification in His sight. They had blessings under this covenant — educational blessings, but not the blessing hoped for, not life eternal.

We should realize that although Jesus had not yet completed his sacrifice while he was in the days of his flesh, during those days he did point to his sacrifice as the means of obtaining eternal life:

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. — John 6:51.

For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world. — John 6:33.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. — John 6:54.

This points to Jesus’ sacrifice and the inauguration of the new covenant by his body of flesh with its blood. — Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19,20; Romans 3:25; 5:9; 7:4; 1 Corinthians 11:24,25; Ephesians 1:7; 2:13; Colossians 1:14.22; Hebrews 9:12,14; 10:10,14,29; 12:24; 13:12,20

Jesus also spoke of his giving his soul as a ransom. — Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45.

John the Baptizer introduced Jesus as the lamb, signifying one to be sacrificed for the sin of the world. (John 1:29) Jesus was the lamb given, not from the old creation under subjection to sin, vanity and corruption (Roman 8:19-22; 2 Peter 1:4), but his human life was a new creation not from the source of creation through Adam. If it had been, then Jesus would also have been subject to the same sinful conditions, bondage of corruption, etc., as the first creation, and would not have anything to offer to offset the sin of the first creation. From the old creation, there could come nothing new. (Ecclesiastes 1:9,10) Nothing of the old creation, under subjection to the “sun” of “vanity”, could make itself straight. (Ecclesiastes 1:14,15; 7:13) Thus, Jesus said to the Jewish leaders: “You are of this world (the world condemned in Adam, in subjection to bondage). I am not of this world.” (John 8:23) Likewise, with his disciples, authority was given so that they who were once children of disobedience and sons of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3) might become sons of God (John 1:12), “sons of the Most High” (Psalm 82:6), new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17), and no thus counted as no longer of this world, the creation in bondage to corruption. Thus, he says of them: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” — John 17:14,16.

Paul’s statement that he was blameless before the Law (Philippians 3:6) does not mean that he had kept the Law perfectly, for he says: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15) And he also said: “The doers of the law will be justified.” (Romans 2:13) If Paul had fully kept the Law, he was therefore justified by the Law, and he would not have needed the ransom sacrifice of Jesus, for he would have already attained life by works of the Law. Yet he includes himself by saying “we”: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Yes, Paul was a sinner, just as the rest of us. He had never justified himself by obeying the Law, and he himself said: “By the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20) And yet, if he had been a “doer of the Law”, he would have been justified, as he stated in Romans 2:13; therefore, the only conclusion is that Paul had not been fully a “doer” of the Law, or else he would have been justified by the Law.

Paul further testifies: “If there had been a law given which could make alive, most assuredly righteousness would have been of the law.” (Galatians 3:21) And, “a man is not justified by the works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ.” — Galatians 2:16.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Basis for Atonement (Not completed)
• Ransom Sacrifice (RL Search Link)
• Hope of Life After Death (Hereafter Link)
• Mankind’s Course to the Day of Judgment (Hereafter Link)
• The Watchtower’s Self-Contradiction About the Ransom (Foc. on JWs Link)