Theological Term of the Week: Atonement
Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 5:00AM 
atonement
The reconciliation of God and humanity through Christ’s work, which blots out human sin and satisfies God’s wrath.
- From scripture:
[23] “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. [24] And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.
[29] “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. [30] For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins (Leviticus 16:23-24, 29-30 ESV).
[3] But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. [4] For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
[12] But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, [13] waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. [14] For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:3-4, 12-14 ESV)
… in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them … . (2 Corinthians 5:19 ESV).
- From Concise Theology by J. I. Packer
Atonement means making amends, blotting out the offense, and giving satisfaction for wrong done; thus reconciling to oneself the alienated other and restoring the disrupted relationship.
Scripture depicts all human beings as needing to atone for their sins but lacking all power and resources for doing so. We have offended our holy Creator, whose nature it is to hate sin (Jer. 44:4; Hab. 1:13) and to punish it (Ps. 5:4-6; Rom. 1:18; 2:5-9). No acceptance by, or fellowship with, such a God can be expected unless atonement is made, and since there is sin in even our best actions, anything we do in hopes of making amends can only increase our guilt or worsen our situation. This makes it ruinous folly to seek to establish one’s own righteousness before God (Job 15:14-16; Rom. 10:2-3); it simply cannot be done.
But against this background of human hopelessness, Scripture sets forth the love, grace, mercy, pity, kindness, and compassion of God, the offended Creator, in himself providing the atonement that our sin has made necessary. This amazing grace is the focal center of New Testament faith, hope, worship, ethics, and spiritual life; from Matthew to Revelation it shines out with breathtaking glory.
Learn more:
- B. B. Warfield: Atonement
- John Murray: The Atonement
- Leon Morris: Atonement
- J. I. Packer in Concise Theology: Sacrifice
- Michael Morales: The Day of Atonement
Related terms:
Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ
Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above.
Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the previous theological terms.
