When people speak about freedom, they come from different perspectives, especially, the freedom to live as they please, to be uninhibited by anyone or anything from seeking and obtaining fulfillment and pleasure in life. But the bedrock of true freedom is the sacrifice, the death, the atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. This is what defines man’s happiness on earth and hopes for eternal joy in heaven.
This is the heritage of anyone who personally accepts that Christ’s atonement is for his sins. Through this, believers enjoy pardon, appeasement, reconciliation, redemption and relationship with God.
Atonement refers to the appeasement of God’s wrath, removal of punishment for sin and provision of salvation for all by Christ through His sacrifice and shed of blood. Sinners are under the wrath of God, but He does not want anyone to perish under His fury. Therefore, the Lord instructed that blood should make “atonement for the soul.” The children of Israel killed lamb or goat and applied the blood as directed, and it made for an atonement for the sins of the people. For us in the New Testament, Jesus Christ who is the perfect, sinless Lamb of God “died for us…(and we are) justified by His blood.”
Christ had no sin to atone for, but we had sins that should be forgiven and cleansed. Thus, the Just died for the unjust. No other person could make that atonement for the world. The atonement in the Old Testament was for the children of Israel alone. But that of Christ goes beyond one nation to include the rest of the world. Christ, the perfect and sinless One, shed His blood for us as an appeasement because there had been enmity between man and God whom nothing else could pacify except the substitutionary death of Jesus, the Lamb.
Consequently, “we also joy in God through our Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”
The atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is all-sufficient. We need not add, subtract or do anything to make it adequate. It has provided the solution to all our problems. There is forgiveness, peace, purity, healing, deliverance, cancellation of the curse of the law and acceptance for all people in His atonement. Through it, the heavenly Father accepts sinful, unrighteous persons who repent and believe.
The atonement that the high priest made was for all — “for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.” It means the door was open for any sinner in Israel who repented and turned away from sin to receive God’s forgiveness. The general atonement “for all their sins (done) once a year” atoned for them. No one was left out because without the atonement, the wrath of God rested upon each of them. Where there is no sin, there is no need for atonement; the presence of sin brings danger, damnation and punishment, which necessitates an atonement.
The atonement Moses made for Israel after they sinned was to plead with God to forgive them. However, atonement did not confer automatic forgiveness and salvation on every Israelite because “the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” The unrepentant and willful disobedient will not benefit from the atonement. Atonement did not work for Nadab and Abihu, Korah, Dathan and Abiram and the 10 spies, all of whom died at different times under the wrath of God. The law and judgment still caught up with those who sinned deliberately after atonement had been made.
Similarly, atonement does not confer automatic forgiveness and salvation on anyone today. Sinners still have the personal responsibility to repent of their sins after atonement has been made.
Jesus Christ made the provision for the salvation of the whole world, but everyone still has a personal responsibility to turn from sin and believe on the Lord. “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus did not make use of that privilege, which shows that the atonement does not automatically bring forgiveness and salvation to the sinful. Sinners must repent of their sins and not be like the Pharisees who closed their eyes, heart and ears to the gospel, so, they would not be converted and healed. Those who fail to accept Christ’s atonement because of lack of faith will not benefit from it, but will suffer in hell. The proof of believing in the atonement is that the sinner repents, believes on Christ and does not continue in sin.
“God so loved the world” and wants everyone to repent and believe on Jesus Christ, so, the atonement can become effective in their lives. Christ’s atonement is not a unilateral one that spares anyone of condemnation, whether they believe or not; “but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” For the atonement of Christ to be effective in any life, there must be personal penitence, “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
• Further reading (King James Version): Leviticus 17:11; Romans 5:8-11; Isaiah 53:4-6; Romans 3:23-26. Leviticus 16:16,17,34; 2 Chronicles 29:23,24; Exodus 32:30-33; Isaiah 53:4-6; 1 John 2:2-5; 5:18-21; John 3:16-19; Mark 1:14,15; Acts 20:20,21.
