R C Sproul on Accepting the Atonement of the Cross

 

 

The Apostle Paul wasn't even present at the crucifixion of Christ, yet he declared that this act was an act of cosmic and supernatural proportions.  This was a real drama of theological redemption.  Here the curse of God's Law was visited on a man who bore the sins of His people.  For Paul the crucifixion was the pivotal point of all history.  Paul was not safisfied to give an account the event. While affirming the historiicity of the crucifixion, Paul added the Apostolic interpretation of the meaning of the event.  He set forth propositions about the death of Christ.

 

The issue before the Church is this:  Is the Apostolic propositional interpretation of the cross correct or not?  Is Paul's view merely a 1st- century Jewish scholar's speculation on the matter, or is it a view inspired by God Himself?

 

What difference does it make?  This is not a trifling matter of a pedantic point of Christian doctrine.  Here nothing less than salvation is at stake.  To reject the biblical view of atonement is to reject the atonement itself.  To reject the atonement is to reject Christ.  To reject Christ is to perish in your sins.

 

Please let us not soften this with an appeasing dance.  Let us be clear.  Those teachers in the Church who deny that the death of Christ is supernatural act of atonement are simply not Christians.  They are enemies of Christ who trample Jesus underfoot and crucify Him afresh.

 

Coram Deo:  Make this declaration:  "Heavenly Father, I accept without reservation the supernatural atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross."

 

Galatians 6:14  But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

 

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.