Full transcript
0:00hi I'm David Barroso and tonight we're
0:02gonna be talking about what the early
0:05Christians believed concerning the
0:07atonement now this is gonna be just a
0:10very brief overview hitting the high
0:14points because to do justice to the
0:17subject I would really need to write a
0:19book but before I explain to you the
0:23early Christian view of the atonement I
0:25first want to talk about the model of
0:28the atonement that you and I have grown
0:30up with it's known to theologians as the
0:33satisfaction theory or model or the
0:36penal model of the atonement now most
0:40Bible believing Christians think that
0:42the satisfaction model is what
0:44Christians have always believed in fact
0:46that that's what I had always thought
0:47until I first read the early Christian
0:50writings but in fact it isn't this view
0:54that we accept as the norm
0:55x''k dates back no further than the 11th
0:58century it was developed by the Roman
1:01Catholic theologian named Anselm who was
1:05the Archbishop of Canterbury and he laid
1:08out his model of the atonement in a book
1:11entitled why did God become man and he
1:15wrote the book explicitly to criticize
1:18the historic view of the atonement that
1:21the church had held up until that time
1:23and to replace the original model with
1:26his new model on the atonement in its
1:30original form the satisfaction model
1:33represented the thinking of medieval
1:36chivalry let me just give you a brief
1:38summary of what Ansem said he said man
1:42had offended God through sin and I think
1:45we're all in agreement on that point he
1:48said sin dishonored the majesty of God
1:51and he said an individual can forgive an
1:55insult but the sovereign of a state
1:57cannot appropriate satisfaction must be
2:01offered yet the insult of our sin is so
2:05great that only someone who is divine
2:08could provide the needed satisfaction
2:11and yet it was man who
2:13salted god so the satisfaction could
2:17only be made by a man therefore the only
2:20one who could provide the needed
2:22satisfaction to God was someone who was
2:25both divine and human who was both God
2:27and man and of course this was Jesus
2:29Christ through the Incarnation and
2:32Anselm's view became the primary Roman
2:36Catholic view of the atonement
2:38well then 500 years later the Protestant
2:41reformers basically adopted wholesale
2:44this Roman Catholic view of the
2:46atonement that they had grown up with it
2:48was this same satisfaction model of
2:51Ansem now the reformers modified an
2:55Psalms model a little bit they expressed
2:58it more in legal or penal terms God the
3:02Father had decreed that man must die for
3:05his sins
3:06now having two Creed that he couldn't
3:08turn around and simply forgive man for
3:11his sins the punishment had to be paid
3:14so Christ received God's punishment in
3:18our place God punished him instead of us
3:22in fact the Reformers talked about God's
3:25wrath being poured out on Christ instead
3:28of on us and that Christ's blood
3:31appeased the anger of the Father now
3:34today this is still the prevailing view
3:36among Bible believing Western Christians
3:40and as far as I know among Roman
3:42Catholics as well although today it's
3:45maybe expressed a little bit more
3:47delicately than what the Reformers
3:49expressed it in but it's still basically
3:52the same model the satisfaction theory
3:56is what I grew up believing and it's
3:58become so widely accepted in the West
4:01that most of us aren't even aware that
4:03there could possibly be another view at
4:06least another view that would be based
4:07solidly on Scripture and I don't
4:11personally feel any big sense of mission
4:13to change people's understanding of the
4:15atonement I feel the essential thing is
4:19that we believe that Christ Jesus died
4:21for our sins that he redeemed us and
4:24that we are cleansed and say
4:26through his blood at the same time this
4:31satisfaction model does have some
4:33weaknesses one of which is that it's not
4:36sufficiently comprehensive now it's easy
4:39to grasp because it reduces the
4:42atonement to a very simple model which
4:44is quite understandable to us but I
4:47think perhaps it's overly simplistic the
4:51early Christian saw the atonement as
4:53encompassing many many things in both
4:56the earthly sphere and the heavenly
4:58sphere in both the material world and
5:00the spirit world so now let's look at
5:03these two different models for
5:05understanding the atonement the
5:07satisfaction model which is the
5:09prevalent view and the early Christian
5:12model sometimes referred to as the
5:13classic model we're gonna see where
5:15they're in agreement
5:16and where they differ the first issue I
5:20want to look at is the question did God
5:23forgive mankind their debt that was owed
5:26to God or did somebody else pay our debt
5:30for us now the satisfaction model
5:33basically states that God could not
5:36simply forgive our debt just say okay
5:41I'll cancel it don't worry about paying
5:43it rather it teaches that our sins have
5:45been remitted not because God forgave
5:48them but because Jesus paid the debt for
5:52us so the father didn't forgive our debt
5:55he simply received payment from someone
5:58else the son I remember once hearing a
6:02Bible teacher say God is not merciful
6:06God is just now it was quite surprised
6:10to hear such a statement because this
6:12brother was a fairly sound Bible teacher
6:15in most areas but you know I thought
6:18about it and I realized the truth is
6:20that is essentially what the
6:22satisfaction model teaches that God
6:24wasn't merciful he didn't say okay this
6:27is what should be done but I'm gonna go
6:30ahead and let you off instead no he said
6:33my justice has to be satisfied
6:35somebody's gonna have to pay if it's not
6:37you then it'll have to be someone else
6:39or
6:40in contrast the early Christian model
6:43says that God forgave our sins our dead
6:47he didn't receive payment for our debt
6:50from the Sun well which view is correct
6:54well let me read to you a Bible passage
6:57and then you tell me this is from
7:00Matthew 18 and we're gonna read verses
7:0321 through 27 but it says then Peter
7:07came to him him meaning Jesus and said
7:10Lord how often shall my brother sin
7:13against me and I forgive him up to seven
7:16times jesus said to him I do not say to
7:19you up to seven times but up to seventy
7:21times seven therefore the kingdom of
7:25heaven is like a certain king who wanted
7:27to settle accounts with his servants and
7:29when he had begun to settle accounts one
7:32was brought to him who owed him ten
7:34thousand talents a little aside here is
7:37my understanding that ten thousand
7:39talents would be the equivalent of a
7:41million or two million dollars today but
7:45as he was not able to pay his master
7:48commanded that he be sold with his wife
7:50and children and all that he had and
7:53that payment be made the servant
7:56therefore fell down before him saying
7:58master have patience with me and I will
8:01pay you all then the master of that
8:04servant was moved with compassion
8:06released him and forgave him the debt I
8:11think most of you know the rest of the
8:13story that same debtor went out and
8:15found a fellow slave who owed him a very
8:18tiny amount of money and he wouldn't
8:20forgive his fellow slave and had him
8:22thrown into prison and so when his
8:25master the King heard about it then he
8:28cancelled the forgiveness of his debt
8:30and handed him over to prison himself
8:34but the point of the passage that I want
8:37to get across now is did the king who
8:42would represent the father did he
8:43forgive that servants debt or did
8:49somebody else come in and pay the debt
8:51for the Suren
8:54we'll see it says that the king simply
8:56forgave it to him and so I feel the
8:58scripture support the early Christian
9:00model better than it does the
9:02satisfaction Theory God forgave I mean
9:04if God can't forgive if he says I'm
9:07sorry if you owe it you have to pay it
9:10it would be contrary to my sense of
9:12justice if if I just simply forgave it
9:14well then on what basis can we humans
9:17forgive our fellow man I mean why can't
9:20we say the same thing hey I'd like to
9:22forgive you but that would be unjust
9:24justice requires that you pay what you
9:27owe me or that you make up for this
9:29injustice or this wrong that you have
9:31done but see the Bible says no we are to
9:34freely forgive lend to people not even
9:37asking back Jesus Jesus said forgive
9:40people their debts the other thing that
9:43I think is very important from this
9:44illustration that Jesus gave of how the
9:46atonement works is that God's
9:49forgiveness is conditional and so if we
9:52don't forgive others then he retracts
9:54his forgiveness of us now see he could
9:57not do that under any kind of legal
9:59model if Jesus the king's son had come
10:03and paid the servants debt because then
10:06the debt would be paid the king couldn't
10:07say oh I'm gonna reinstate this now he
10:10couldn't the debt would be would be over
10:12with but see it wasn't ever paid it was
10:16simply forgiven and because no
10:19consideration this is a legal term now
10:21was given to the king he had the right
10:22to reinstate it and now let's move on to
10:26the second issue which concerns to whom
10:29was the ransom paid because both the
10:33satisfaction model and the early
10:35Christian model teach that Jesus died as
10:37a ransom for our sins because that's
10:40after all what the Bible says
10:42for example Matthew 20 verse 28 says the
10:46son of man did not come to be served but
10:49to serve and to give his life a ransom
10:52for many
10:53first Timothy five six says for there is
10:56one God and one mediator between God and
10:59men the man Christ Jesus who gave
11:02himself a ransom for all
11:04but the question again is to
11:07was this ransom paid now my dictionary
11:11defines ransom this way it says it's the
11:14redeeming of a captive by paying money
11:17or complying with other demands now
11:21under the satisfaction model the ransom
11:24was paid to the father but let me ask
11:27you a question
11:28when someone is kidnapped to whom is the
11:31ransom paid to the child's parents of
11:34course not it's the child's parents who
11:37pay the ransom
11:38it's paid to the kidnapper to the one
11:40who is holding the child or the adult as
11:44a captive now the early Christians and
11:48and the hearers of Jesus were very
11:50familiar with this imagery of paying a
11:53ransom because unlike in our society
11:56today it was an extremely common
11:58practice because you had pirates out in
12:01the waters if you were sailing in a ship
12:04you carried a big risk that pirates
12:06would come and take over your ship take
12:09everybody who was on the ship as
12:10captives and then sell you as a slave
12:14unless someone came and redeemed you by
12:17paying a ransom
12:18now the Roman Navy did a lot to
12:21eliminate that but it still was around
12:23then you had Raiders sometimes just
12:26irregular soldiers from other countries
12:29they would come into an area that wasn't
12:31closely guarded raid a hamlet or a
12:34village and take everybody captive and
12:36then if you wanted to see your loved
12:38ones again you had to pay a ransom to
12:40get him back else they were sold into
12:42slavery also invading armies would often
12:46take thousands tens of thousands of
12:48people captive and again sell them into
12:51slavery and you would have to pay a
12:53ransom to get him back
12:54so Jesus hearers were familiar with what
12:58a ransom was all about and they knew you
13:00don't pay a ransom to the parents of a
13:03child who's been taken by Raiders you
13:06pay it to the Raiders to the bad guys
13:08that's who you have to give the ransom
13:11to so under the early Christian model
13:13the ransom was paid to Satan not to the
13:16father this is how they understood it by
13:20choosing
13:21to heed Satan rather than to listen to
13:23God Adam and Eve chose Satan to be their
13:27master as a result the entire human race
13:31came into bondage to Satan and also to
13:34death and Satan did have a lawful right
13:38over mankind because we voluntarily
13:42chose to follow his way not God's Way
13:45and that's why Satan could offer Jesus
13:48all of the kingdoms of the world because
13:51the whole world was in bondage to Satan
13:54into the powers of darkness it's why the
13:57New Testament speaks of Satan as the god
13:59of this world
14:00however Satan was willing to release
14:03mankind to give up this legal right that
14:07he had over us if if he could have the
14:12Son of God in our place instead of
14:15killing us he would kill the son of God
14:19because he said himself if I kill the
14:22Creator
14:23the Son of God then the whole world will
14:26always be in my power
14:28so the ransom price that Satan demanded
14:31was the life of Jesus and Jesus paid
14:36that price for us so both models the
14:39satisfaction model in the early
14:41Christian model speak about Jesus paying
14:44the penalty for our sins but under the
14:48satisfaction model that we've all grown
14:50up with the penalty is something that
14:53the father is demanding be paid and so
14:56he paid the penalty to the father but
14:59under the early Christian model the
15:02penalty that is owed was a penalty that
15:05was the natural consequence that flows
15:08from sin may give you an illustration
15:11suppose a person who is grossly
15:14overweight is visiting their doctor and
15:16the doctor tells them and has told them
15:19in the past you've got to quit eating so
15:21much and you need to exercise a lot more
15:23but the person isn't really doing that
15:25and so the doctor tells them that look
15:27if you don't start exercising daily and
15:31if you don't start cutting back on
15:34amount you eat you are going to pay the
15:37price what does he mean by that that
15:40someone's gonna come up and say okay now
15:42the price for this is X number of
15:44dollars and you're gonna have to pay
15:45that because you ain't no no he's saying
15:49there's gonna be a natural consequence
15:51from your lifestyle and the price you'll
15:54end up paying is gonna be probably an
15:55early death or heart attack or something
15:57like that if nothing else is gonna be
15:59that you're gonna be grossly overweight
16:02well see that's how the early Christians
16:04understood the penalty of sin that there
16:07was a natural consequence there that we
16:09had come under bondage to Satan and
16:12somebody was gonna have to pay the price
16:15either mankind would be forever under
16:17Satan's bondage or that we would be
16:20released because somebody Jesus Christ
16:23paid the price to releases seus Lewis
16:26gives an excellent illustration of the
16:29early Christian model of the atonement
16:30in his book entitled the Lion the Witch
16:32and the Wardrobe now I'm not necessarily
16:34endorsing that book I'm not comfortable
16:37with all of CS Lewis's imagery because
16:40he likes to use imagery that's based on
16:43mythology but I'm sure that many of you
16:46have read the book at one time or
16:47another like I have and for those of you
16:50who haven't read it let me just briefly
16:51relate the story as it applies to the
16:54Ransom the story involves four children
16:58who have entered this mythical world of
17:01narnia and one of the children's are all
17:04brothers and sisters is named Edmund and
17:06he becomes acquainted with the villain
17:09of the story the white witch but she
17:12appears to him as this kindly queen who
17:15wants to do good things so he ends up
17:18doing her bidding and becomes a traitor
17:20to Ashlyn now Aslan is the lion who
17:24obviously pictures Jesus Christ who is
17:26the ruler of the land of Narnia Edmund
17:29would picture Adam or Adam and Eve and
17:31of course the white witch would picture
17:34Satan well in the story the white witch
17:37decides to end up killing Edmund and
17:40she's about to do so but then Edmund is
17:43rescued by the forces of Aslan well
17:47looks like okay everything's gonna be
17:49great but then the White Witch comes to
17:51Aslan and says you can't do what you've
17:54just done by the laws of Narnia every
17:57traitor belongs to me Edmund is a
18:00traitor and so I have the legal right to
18:04him and you cannot deny me that right
18:06well
18:07Aslan realizes that she's right but he
18:10says let's talk a little bit and he
18:12makes an agreement with her that if she
18:14will release Edmund that he will die in
18:17Edmunds place and the White Witch agrees
18:20to that and she ends up tormenting Aslan
18:24and then putting him to death but just
18:27as she's about to kill him she says I
18:29want you to know that not only are you
18:32gonna die but your death is not gonna
18:34save Edmund because I'm gonna kill him
18:36anyway and with that she then kills
18:39Aslan but death cannot hold Aslan and so
18:43he comes back to life the next day and
18:46he ends up conquering the White Witch
18:49and so everybody is safe well Lois
18:53obviously based the whole model of his
18:56book on the classic model the early
18:58Christian model of the atonement and I
19:00think it's a great illustration of it
19:03let me read you just a few quotes from
19:06the early Christians so you can hear it
19:08from their mouths how they're
19:09understanding the the ransom Origen
19:13wrote Christ is our Redemption because
19:15we had become prisoners and needed
19:18ransoming this is volume 9 page 318 so
19:22you wouldn't matter that we needed
19:24ransoming from the father from an angry
19:26father who wouldn't forgive us no we
19:29were prisoners of somebody else Origen
19:32wrote again talking about Jesus he
19:35submitted to death
19:36purchasing us back by his own blood from
19:41him who had got us into his power sold
19:44under sin so he didn't purchase us from
19:47the Father he purchased us from Satan as
19:50volume 9 page 377 Irenaeus wrote for at
19:55the first Adam became a vessel in
19:58Satan's possession whom he did also
20:01hold under his power that is by bringing
20:04sin on him unjustly that is on man and
20:07under the color of immortality he
20:10brought death upon man volume 1 page 456
20:16just a couple more I want to read again
20:19from Irenaeus said Jesus gave himself as
20:23a redemption for those who had been led
20:25into captivity the apostasy that means
20:29Satan and all those who went along with
20:31him tyrannically and unjustly ruled over
20:35us and it alienated us contrary to
20:38nature for we were by nature the
20:41property of the omnipotent God rendering
20:45us its own disciples for the apostasy
20:48had obtained dominion over us at the
20:50beginning when it snatched away what was
20:53not its own it's in volume 1 page 527
20:58then one final one from Cyprian he said
21:01he who has freed owes obedience to his
21:04deliverer volume 5 page 432 you see that
21:09was the concept of people at that time
21:12if you were taken captive by Raiders or
21:17pirates or sometimes sold into slavery
21:20because you couldn't pay your debt if
21:22somebody then paid your debt or somebody
21:24paid the ransom to the Raiders to get
21:27you released well then you owed your
21:29obedience to that person who released
21:32you you didn't just say well hey thanks
21:34a lot now I'm going on my way no now you
21:36were obligated to that person so they
21:39understood we're now our slaves of
21:41Christ we are owned by Jesus our
21:44allegiance our total obedience is owed
21:46to him because he redeemed us ransomed
21:50us from captivity to Satan and the
21:52forces of darkness notice what the
21:54scriptures say Galatians 1 3 and 4 our
21:57Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our
22:00sins that he might deliver us deliver us
22:03from what it says from this present evil
22:06age or other translations say this
22:09present evil world according to the will
22:12of our God and Father see we weren't to
22:14live
22:15from the hands of an angry father we
22:16were delivered from the forces of
22:18darkness this whole evil world and its
22:21master Satan another verse I want to
22:23look at is acts 20 verse 28 where Paul
22:27told the elders or overseers take heed
22:30to yourselves and to all the flock among
22:33whom the Holy Spirit has made you
22:35overseers to Shepherd the Church of God
22:39which he purchased with his own blood so
22:43it says that Jesus Christ purchased the
22:46church with his own blood but he
22:50purchased it from whom the father well
22:54if the father already owned the church
22:56why would Christ have to purchase it
22:59from him that doesn't make sense on the
23:03other hand if we had sold ourselves into
23:06bondage to Satan and the forces of
23:08darkness then indeed we did need to be
23:11repurchased and the price for that
23:13purchase it was Christ's own blood well
23:18I think now you can see that under both
23:20the early Christian model and the
23:21satisfaction model there is a
23:24substitutionary atonement Christ died in
23:28our place but under the satisfaction
23:32model the substitution was God was going
23:34to punish us and he punished his own son
23:37instead of us under the early Christian
23:41model is that we were in bondage to
23:44Satan and the powers of darkness and
23:46Jesus died in our place he accepted the
23:50punishment the penalty that Satan would
23:53have delivered unto us a third aspect of
23:57the atonement I want to talk about now
23:59is the sacrificial death that Jesus
24:03incurred both the satisfaction model and
24:06the early Christian model recognize that
24:09Jesus died a sacrificial death I mean
24:13the Scriptures teach this it says this
24:15man Jesus after he had offered one
24:18sacrifice for sins forever sat down at
24:22the right hand of God
24:23that's Hebrews 10 12 or again John 10
24:27verse 11
24:28said I am the good shepherd the good
24:30shepherd his life for the Sheep those
24:34are basic concepts of Christianity that
24:36work that we all believe are all
24:38familiar with but now the satisfaction
24:41model and the early Christian model
24:43think about Christ's sacrifice in two
24:46entirely different ways the satisfaction
24:50model views his sacrifice more as a
24:54ritualistic sacrifice I don't mean to
24:58denigrate the satisfaction model but I
25:01think if we're honest the kind of
25:04sacrifice it teaches is something very
25:06similar to the pagan sacrifices that
25:09they made to their gods they believed
25:11that their gods would be appeased by the
25:13shedding of blood so they offered
25:16sacrifices to appease their angry gods
25:19under the satisfaction model it's
25:21virtually the same thing there is this
25:24angry father who cannot forgive mankind
25:27but he's appeased by his sons dying
25:31someone has to die to satisfy God's
25:34Penal Justice and Christ's death
25:37therefore brought a sense of
25:39satisfaction to the Father
25:41his shed blood had a appeasing effect on
25:45the father but see the early Christians
25:48didn't see it that way at all they
25:50didn't understand his sacrifice to be a
25:52ritualistic sacrifice they saw it as an
25:55heroic sacrifice let me give you some
25:58illustrations to explain the difference
26:00we all know the ritualistic sacrifice
26:03it's the image that I think first comes
26:05to people's mind when you say the word
26:07sacrifice person being laid out on an
26:10altar or maybe an animal or something
26:12else and being killed in their blood
26:14running down the altar but the heroic
26:17sacrifice would be when somebody gives
26:20up something including their life in
26:22order to help other people in simple
26:25everyday terms I grew up in the 1950s
26:28and baseball was the king of sports back
26:30then and after school it seemed like
26:32every day we were playing softball well
26:35there was a very common expression that
26:37we used in baseball that somebody would
26:40hit a sacrifice
26:42fly what that would mean is you had a
26:44runner on third base who could come home
26:47and so the batter would hit a deep
26:49flight outfield he knew it would be
26:51caught and that he would be put out he
26:53would give up his right to get to first
26:55base but the third base runner could tag
26:58up and get home before the outfielder
27:01could get that ball back to the catcher
27:02so we call that a sacrifice fly and
27:05there were other similar terminology a
27:07sacrifice bunt or grounder or something
27:10like that where you hit the ball in a
27:12place where you would get out but you
27:14would allow somebody else to get in see
27:18that's another kind of sacrifice there's
27:21two uses of the word now bringing it
27:24down to involving someone's life think
27:27of a child who's out on a byway and here
27:29comes a car about to hit the child and
27:31the child's father or mother sees this
27:34and quickly runs out into the road
27:37pushes the child to safety but gets hit
27:40by the car as a result and is killed so
27:43we would say that that parent sacrificed
27:45his life or her life for their child
27:48they gave up their lives so that their
27:50child could live I'll give you another
27:53illustration during wartime you have the
27:55same sort of thing that happens all of
27:57the time that soldiers will undergo a
28:01certain mission and in doing so they may
28:04even know they do not have a chance that
28:06they are going to die but by undertaking
28:09the mission or by holding their position
28:13of protection as long as they can they
28:16enable others to live they lay down
28:19their lives for others here in Texas we
28:23all know about the story of the Alamo
28:25where a very small handful of men stayed
28:28there in what was actually a mission and
28:31held off the Mexican Army for quite a
28:34number of days even though they knew
28:37their situation was hopeless they were
28:39going to be killed but instead of
28:41surrendering when they could have and
28:43may be spared their own lives they
28:45decided they would give up their life so
28:48that others could live and the result of
28:50it was it gave the rest of the Texans
28:52time to put together an army
28:55and the Texas army did eventually win
28:57when its independence
28:59okay the early Christians saw Jesus
29:02sacrifice see in that sense in that
29:04heroic sense he allowed Satan to kill
29:07him in order to free us from Satan's
29:10bondage he sacrificed his life so that
29:14we could live and it's true that this
29:17sacrifice was pleasing to the Father not
29:20because he gets some kind of horrible
29:22satisfaction out of seeing shed blood or
29:24to see his son being crushed and
29:26tortured those things were painful to
29:29the father to see his own son have to
29:32undergo that and he received no pleasure
29:35or appeasement from his son having to
29:37die but at the same time he was proud of
29:41his son for going through with this
29:43incredibly noble act suffering and dying
29:46so that we could be freed from Satan and
29:49from the world of death and that's what
29:52the father wanted his son to do it was a
29:54sacrifice that they both made I think
29:56harder sometimes on the parent the
29:58parent would rather lay down his life
30:00than to see his own son have to lay down
30:02his life if you find it hard to think of
30:06sacrifice in those terms I'm curious
30:09what you do with Romans 12:1 where Paul
30:12says I beseech you therefore brethren by
30:15the mercies of God that you present your
30:17bodies a living sacrifice holy
30:19acceptable to God your reasonable
30:23service now do you think God wants us to
30:27be sacrificed on some literal altar
30:30somewhere when we're told to offer our
30:32bodies a living sacrifice do you think
30:35that would bring him pleasure or is it
30:38more reasonable to believe that God
30:40wants us to devote our lives to him
30:42laying down our lives in his service and
30:45if necessary dying is martyrs isn't that
30:49what Paul is really talking about there
30:51in Romans 12:1 it's the same as what he
30:54said in Philippians 2:17 if I'm being
30:58poured out as a drink offering on the
31:00sacrifice and service of your faith I am
31:03glad and rejoice with you all
31:07one area where the satisfaction model
31:10and the early Christian model differ or
31:13I should say another area where they
31:14differ is that the early Christians
31:16believed that a major part of the
31:19atonement was Christ's victory over
31:22Satan notice where the Scriptures teach
31:25Jesus said how can one enter a strong
31:28Mans house and plunder his Goods unless
31:31he first binds the strong man and then
31:34he will plunder his house the early
31:37Christians understood that to be a
31:39reference to the fact that Jesus would
31:42bind Satan and plunder his goods that is
31:45all the captives who were held by him
31:47would be released and that's something
31:50we had no power to do only Jesus could
31:52bind Satan or get in Hebrews 2 verses 14
31:56and 15 we read he himself talking about
32:00Jesus likewise shared in the same that
32:02through death he might destroy him who
32:06had the power of death that is the devil
32:08and released those who through fear of
32:11death were all their lifetime subject to
32:14bondage see I mean it's right there in
32:17the scriptures that part of the
32:19atonement part of the redemption of
32:21mankind was defeating Satan binding him
32:25so that we could be freed let me read
32:28you a few quotes from the early church
32:30Milito wrote this when our Lord arose
32:34from the place of the dead and trampled
32:36death underfoot and bound the strong one
32:39and set man free then the whole creation
32:42saw clearly that for man's sake the
32:45judge was condemned it's in volume 8
32:49page 756 Irenaeus wrote Christ fought
32:54and conquered that is because he was man
32:57contending for the father's through
32:59obedience he completely did away with
33:01disobedience for he bound the strongman
33:04and set free of the weak he endowed his
33:07own handiwork with salvation by
33:09destroying sin for he is a most holy and
33:13merciful Lord and he loves the human
33:15race therefore as I have already said he
33:19caused man to cleave to and to
33:21become one with God for unless man had
33:24overcome the enemy of man the enemy
33:27would not have been legitimately
33:28conquered so he's saying again part of
33:31our redemption was Jesus defeating Satan
33:35binding him but this had to be done by a
33:38man and this was one reason for the
33:41Incarnation because obviously God
33:43himself had the power and the Son of God
33:46in his heavenly existence had the power
33:48but it had to come through a man
33:51methodius wrote with this purpose the
33:54word does Jesus assumed the nature of
33:56man so that having overcome the serpent
34:00he might by himself
34:02destroy the condemnation that had come
34:05into being along with man's ruin for it
34:08was fitting that the evil one should be
34:09overcome by none other than man whom he
34:13had deceived and of whom he was boasting
34:16that he held in subjection his volume 6
34:19page 3:19 it brings to mind the prophecy
34:23and Genesis that you will bruise him
34:26talking to the serpent you will bruise
34:28him in the heel but he will bruise you
34:30in the head and that's what happened not
34:34as much through the death of Jesus but
34:36through his resurrection and so in the
34:38early Christian model the resurrection
34:40is a intricate and key part of the
34:44atonement in the satisfaction model it's
34:47not so important that point is he died
34:49he shed his blood and so the penalty was
34:52paid I mean it would almost seem like
34:54under the satisfaction model that if he
34:57had never been resurrected we would
34:58still be free but not under the early
35:01Christian model there there has to be
35:03the resurrection otherwise it would be
35:05like a sling and CS Lewis's story when
35:07the white witch killed him and said I'm
35:10not gonna release Edmond after all be
35:13the same way with Satan he would quickly
35:14and snare us again even though he had
35:17been willing to let go of his claim over
35:20us but no Jesus had to come back from
35:22the dead and by his going down into
35:25Hades he introduced life into the realm
35:28of the Dead and shattered it broke it
35:30open and led captives out of the lower
35:34regions
35:34of Hades Victor eNOS wrote sent volume 7
35:39page 355 the devil the traitor angel
35:42thought that all men would perish by
35:44death however because Christ was not
35:47born of human seed he owed nothing to
35:50death therefore the devil could not
35:53devour him that is he could not detain
35:55him in death from the third day he rose
35:58again alexander of alexandria the one
36:02who was the opponent of Arius at the
36:04Council of Nicaea he wrote as we have
36:07said when the body of the lord was hung
36:09upon the cross the tombs were opened
36:11Hades was unlocked the dead received
36:14life again and the souls were sent back
36:16again into the world for the Lord hid
36:19conquered Hades
36:20he had trodden down death and he had
36:23covered the enemy with shame
36:25volume 6 page 301 and one last one
36:29Ignatius wrote Jesus crucified my sin
36:34along with the one who was the inventor
36:36of it that of course is Satan Christ has
36:39condemned all the deceit and malice of
36:42the devil under the feet of those who
36:44carry him in their hearts his volume 1
36:48page 129 this theme our motif of
36:51Christ's victory over the devil as a key
36:55element of the atonement was emphasized
36:58by a Swedish theologian named Gustav
37:01Allan who wrote a book in the early part
37:04of the 20th century entitled Christus
37:06Victor Christ the victor and he pointed
37:10out in it how the early church
37:12understood the atonement largely through
37:15this victory of Christ over our enemy
37:17over our captor Satan the devil
37:21another issue concerning the atonement I
37:24want to throw out is the question does
37:27Christ's blood actually cleanse us from
37:30sin or does his blood simply pay the
37:34penalty for our sin now the satisfaction
37:39model of the atonement essentially says
37:42that the barrier in the relationship
37:45between God and man was primarily
37:48on the part of God to remedy the
37:52alienation between God and man
37:54someone had to change God's heart
37:56towards mankind and so Christ's death on
38:01the cross didn't change mankind it
38:04changed God's view of mankind because
38:09prior to Christ's death his justice
38:12would not allow him to simply forgive us
38:14so until the penalty was paid we
38:18remained alienated from him once jesus
38:21paid God's imposed penalty then God
38:25could be at one with us again so under
38:29the satisfaction model man is no
38:32different
38:33after the atonement in reality than he
38:36was before it he still lives in sin but
38:40he now has a new legal standing before
38:43God because the price for those sins
38:46have been paid there's a popular bumper
38:49sticker I see around here a lot
38:51it says Christians aren't perfect
38:53they're just forgiving and the message
38:56behind that little slogan is a Christian
38:59sin like everybody else the difference
39:01is we're forgiven well as we've talked
39:04about really it's not even forgiveness
39:06according to the satisfaction model it's
39:09that Christ paid the price God had
39:11imposed for our sins so we still sin but
39:14they're not counted against us because
39:16Christ paid the penalty I've heard
39:19preachers say that justification means
39:21that our status is just as though we
39:24never sinned I mean we still do sin but
39:27it's just as if we hadn't sinned that's
39:30what the atonement is all about it's a
39:32legal transaction that took place well
39:35the early Christian model says no it's
39:37not that at all it wasn't God's heart
39:39that needed to be changed
39:40it was our nature that had to be changed
39:43God always stood ready to forgive and
39:46and in fact he did forgive those who
39:48repented of their sins the problem
39:50according to the early Christian model
39:53is that sin by its very nature alienates
39:57us from God let's picture that your best
40:00friend has just been
40:02rade by a skunk but he wants to come
40:04over and have fellowship with you well
40:06you may feel fine towards your friend
40:09you still love him you like being around
40:11him but until something changes you're
40:14not gonna be able to invite him in your
40:16home there's gonna be an alienation but
40:19the alienation isn't because you have a
40:21an attitude towards him something has to
40:23be paid to you is that he needs to get
40:25cleaned up because we can't have close
40:28fellowship if you smell like a skunk
40:30you've got to go home and get cleaned up
40:32first well that's the way sin is with
40:35God we needed changing we needed
40:37cleaning up God didn't need to change
40:39but a holy God can't have close
40:42fellowship with a person who is unholy
40:45God loved us he was willing to forgive
40:48us but that sin in us made a barrier
40:51between us and him because as I used in
40:54the illustration we smelled like a skunk
40:56as James tells us James 4:8 draw near to
41:00God and He will draw near to you see
41:03it's us who have to move towards him God
41:05hasn't moved we're the ones who've moved
41:07away from him he continues cleanse your
41:10hands you sinners and purify your hearts
41:12you double-minded see that's what
41:15enables us to draw close to God is when
41:17we get ourselves cleansed from sin that
41:20we turn from unholy living to godly
41:22living to the grace of God and through
41:25the power of Jesus blood so Christ's
41:28blood according to the order Christians
41:30doesn't change the ledgers of heaven
41:33there's no bookkeeping thing that went
41:35on here that shows that our sin debt has
41:38been paid rather his blood cleanses us
41:42from sin we're actually without the
41:45stain of sin not just there's been a
41:47ledger entry in heaven that shows that
41:50we're clean when we really aren't the
41:53issue under the early Christian model
41:55isn't having a new legal standing before
41:57God it's actually being cleanse being
42:01transformed through Christ's blood now
42:05his dying was a propitiation for our
42:07sins because it rendered a change in us
42:11it cleansed us it made us able to stand
42:14before God
42:15now we can be reconciled we can be whole
42:18with him as the scriptures say second
42:21Corinthians 5:19 God was in Christ
42:23reconciling the world to himself see the
42:28Scriptures don't say Christ was
42:30reconciling God to the world no it was
42:33reconciling the world to God or again
42:37Paul writes in Colossians 1 21 and 22
42:40you once were alienated and were enemies
42:44in your mind by wicked works yet now he
42:47has reconciled in the body of his flesh
42:50through death so the problem was us we
42:54were alienated and enemies because of
42:56our wicked deeds Ephesians 2:13 now in
43:00Christ Jesus you who once were afar off
43:04have been brought near by the blood of
43:07Christ mankind was far off from God he
43:11didn't need moving we needed moving and
43:14that would apply also to the Gentiles
43:17who were far off because of the the law
43:20in Christ death also fulfilled the law
43:23and removed that issue as well
43:25again Hebrews 9:14 says how much more
43:29shall the blood of Christ who through
43:32the Eternal Spirit offered himself
43:34without spot to God cleanse your
43:38conscience from dead works to serve the
43:41Living God okay did you see again the
43:44message it says it cleanses our
43:46conscience doesn't say it just covers
43:49over it you may be wondering where it
43:52says he offered himself without spot to
43:53God as we have said yes it was an
43:56offering God wanted him to come to earth
44:00God sent him here in order to help us in
44:03our lost condition and so his death was
44:07not just a sacrifice that benefited us
44:09it was an offering to his father it was
44:11a act of obedience and love towards his
44:15father and their mutual love towards us
44:18again hebrews 10:14 by one offering he
44:21has perfected forever those who are
44:25being sanctified
44:27okay we're being perfected were being
44:30sanctified it's not just a penalty
44:33having been done away with one last
44:36verse Hebrews 13:12
44:38therefore Jesus also that he might
44:40sanctify the people with his own blood
44:43suffered outside the gate okay so you
44:46see that what the scriptures are saying
44:48we are cleansed by his blood it's not
44:51just a issue of the penalty being
44:53remitted let's read just a few quotes in
44:56the early church to illustrate what I'm
44:59saying Hermus from volume to page 35
45:02says he himself purged away their sins
45:06having suffered many trials and
45:08undergone many Labour's for no one is
45:11able to dig without labor and toil he
45:15himself then having purged away the sins
45:18of the people showed them the paths of
45:20life by giving them the law which he
45:24received from his father and again
45:27Cyprian from volume 5 page 476 it is
45:31coming the Lord cured those wounds that
45:33Adam had borne He healed the old poisons
45:36of the serpent thereafter he gave a law
45:39to the sound man and bade him to sin no
45:42more thus the worst thing should befall
45:44the sinner those sins that had been
45:46previously committed are purged by the
45:48blood and sanctification of Christ
45:52origin vol 4 pages 316 and 317 for the
45:57death of Christ reduced to weakness
46:00those powers that war against the human
46:03race and it set the life of each
46:05believer free from sin through a power
46:09beyond our words he takes away sin until
46:13every enemy will be destroyed and death
46:16last of all in order that the whole
46:18world may be free from sin therefore
46:22John pointed to him and said behold the
46:25lamb of God who takes away the sin of
46:28the world if you ever thought about the
46:31words there of John the Baptist the Lamb
46:33of God who takes away the sin of the
46:36world see the satisfaction model changes
46:38that to behold the lamb of God
46:41takes away the penalty of sin that's not
46:44what he said he said he takes away our
46:45sin he cleanses us and transforms us if
46:49we are truly born again and are walking
46:52in the line okay one last quote from
46:54Irenaeus volume 1 page 493 he said so at
46:59last by means of the new man that's
47:01Jesus all who from the beginning were
47:03his disciples having been cleansed and
47:06washed from things pertaining to death
47:09can come to the life of God at this
47:14point I think you can see that there's
47:16quite a few differences between how the
47:18early Christians looked at the atonement
47:19and how the Roman Catholic medieval
47:23church and then later the Reformers
47:25looked at it but one of the biggest
47:29differences is that the satisfaction
47:32model focuses almost exclusively on
47:36Christ's death we hear a lot of talk
47:40about Christ died for my sins and that
47:43is a basic Christian truth that is
47:45equally true under either model but
47:48under the satisfaction model the
47:51Incarnation was necessary only because
47:54the penalty had to be endured by a human
47:58or the dead had to be paid by a human it
48:01couldn't be paid by God or by the son of
48:05God in His divine character but in the
48:08satisfaction model in the morning
48:11most of us have grown up to believe the
48:13Incarnation itself really plays no
48:16redeeming role in our salvation but in
48:20contrast the early Christian model sees
48:23the Incarnation as an essential part of
48:26the atonement there's redemption in the
48:29Incarnation totally apart from the death
48:32of Christ let me ask you a question what
48:35did God tell Adam would happen if the
48:37ate of the tree of the knowledge of good
48:39and bad didn't God tell him in the day
48:42that you eat of it I shall surely kill
48:45you is that what he said no he didn't
48:48say that did he he said in the day that
48:50you eat of it you shall surely done
48:54now that statement of God in the day
48:58that you eat of it you shall surely die
49:00could mean one of two things it could
49:02mean in the day you eat of it I will
49:05slay you because you've eaten of it and
49:08I think essentially that's how the
49:10satisfaction model understands it that
49:13God was sentencing them to be killed if
49:16they ate of the tree of knowledge of
49:18good and bad but there's a second way to
49:21understand God's statement and I'll give
49:24you an illustration to explain it let's
49:28say that a father is on some kind of
49:31very strong medicine perhaps he has some
49:34ailment that requires him to take potent
49:36medicine
49:37that would be harmful to a small child
49:40and so one day he shows their little
49:43four-year-old this bottle of pills that
49:46the father takes and he tells him listen
49:48I don't want you ever ever to take these
49:51pills don't eat of them don't even come
49:53and touch this bottle because if you eat
49:56these pills you're going to die now see
50:00he's saying the same thing that God said
50:01in Eden but he means it in an entirely
50:04different sense then if you eat of these
50:06I'm going to kill you he's telling the
50:08child that this will result in your
50:12death this isn't meant for a child it is
50:15deadly for you to take it and so the
50:19early Christians tended to understand
50:21God's statement at Eden in that fashion
50:24he wasn't telling Adam and Eve I am
50:27going to kill you if you eat of that
50:28tree of the knowledge of good and evil
50:30he was telling them if you disobey me
50:33and if you eat of it you're going to die
50:36number one as newborn humans you're not
50:40ready to eat of this tree perhaps it was
50:43something that they would have eaten of
50:44years or centuries millennium down the
50:46road but it was not something that their
50:49bodies at that time could assimilate or
50:51secondly he could have been explaining
50:54to them that disobedience would bring
50:58them under bondage to Satan and it would
51:00introduce corruption into their physical
51:03bodies and into their souls and that
51:06corruption would
51:07cause they're death and that corruption
51:10would put a wall between them and God
51:12not because he couldn't forgive them but
51:14because as we talked before there would
51:16be something in their nature now that
51:18would make it very difficult for God to
51:20have a normal relationship with them
51:22like the good friend who's been sprayed
51:24by a skunk I should also mention that
51:27many of the early Christians saw death
51:30and mortality as a blessing otherwise
51:34sin could exist eternally for example
51:38methodius wrote we were emptied of the
51:41divine inspiration and filled with
51:43carnal desires which the cunning serpent
51:45infused into us for that reason God
51:48invented death for our sakes that he
51:52might destroy sin otherwise if we were
51:55immortal and sin rose up in us sin would
51:59be immortal as well find that quote in
52:02volume 6 of the ante-nicene fathers page
52:05372 all right so now looking at it from
52:09this early Christian perspective that
52:11there's a natural consequence that's
52:14going to come with your disobedience
52:15that will cause you to die so what is
52:18the remedy then for man's condition well
52:21see entered the satisfaction model we're
52:23understanding that God says I'm going to
52:24kill you and that the only way that
52:26penalty could be removed was for
52:28somebody either all humans to die or for
52:30Jesus to die in our place and so once
52:34that penalty had been endured by Jesus
52:37Christ then man was open for salvation
52:40because all that it ever happened was a
52:43legal decree against us that had now
52:46been removed you see the early
52:48Christians are saying no disobedience
52:50not only put us under bondage to Satan
52:53it introduced this moral and physical
52:56corruption into our very nature man
52:59certainly deserve punishment and God
53:01certainly punishes us for disobedience I
53:04don't want you to walk away thinking
53:05that I'm saying or that the early
53:07Christians were saying that Oh God
53:08doesn't punish he's just one of these
53:10doting parents who always says oh that's
53:12okay even though you've done this Johnny
53:14that's okay daddy still loves you no God
53:16does punish but God had no problem for
53:20giving and and saying even though you
53:23deserve punishment even though I've said
53:25I'm gonna punish you I can forgive you
53:27if you repent I mean this is what
53:28happened to Nineveh God said I am going
53:31to destroy the city of Nineveh because
53:33of their wickedness but even though he
53:34had said that when they repented he
53:36forgave them and he didn't do what he
53:38had already declared he would do so the
53:40early Christians were seeing the problem
53:42wasn't with God and his lack of
53:44forgiveness it was that we needed
53:46healing we were like someone who had
53:49contracted cancer and it wouldn't do
53:52just to say hey look I forgive you
53:53everything's fine no I've got cancer
53:55this cancer has to be healed
53:57we had corruptibility in our nature we
54:00could not possibly save ourselves so the
54:03only remedy was for a second Adam to
54:06appear because all we could inherit from
54:08the first Adam now was corruption and
54:11the second Adam had to be incorruptible
54:15beyond corruption and without sin and
54:18then we could descend from him rather
54:21than from the first Adam and that's why
54:24to the early Christians the Incarnation
54:26was so important we had to have this
54:28second Adam that we could become the
54:31descendants of we needed new genes so to
54:35speak I'm talking about GE NES genes
54:37because in Adam we could only die we
54:40needed this second Adam but you may
54:43object but we're not descendants of the
54:45second Adam how does his becoming
54:47incarnate help us he didn't marry and
54:50produce children so we were not born
54:53from him ah see that's the whole reason
54:56that we have to be born again why Jesus
54:59said lest you are born again you shall
55:01not enter the kingdom of heaven because
55:04without the new birth if all we have is
55:06a birth from Adam we're still helpless
55:08descendants of Adam the new birth makes
55:11us descendants of the second Adam and in
55:15the new birth Christ actually dwells in
55:18us through the Holy Spirit but there's
55:20even more to it than that
55:22according to the early Christian
55:23understanding and this deals with their
55:25grasp of Communion hopefully you've
55:28already heard the message that I've
55:30prepared on what the early Christians
55:32believed about commune
55:33if you haven't I would encourage you to
55:35listen to it but I listen to what Jesus
55:38said in the scriptures and how this
55:41plays such a vital role in our salvation
55:43he said most assuredly I say to you
55:47unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
55:50Man and drink his blood you have no life
55:54in you whoever eats my flesh and drinks
55:57my blood has eternal life and I will
56:01raise him up at the last day for my
56:03flesh is food indeed and my blood is
56:07drink indeed he who eats my flesh and
56:10drinks my blood abides in me and I in
56:13him see this is how we get life through
56:17the second Adam we must eat the flesh of
56:20Christ and drink his blood now Jesus was
56:22not speaking in a carnal sense he wasn't
56:25talking about cannibalism and the early
56:28Christians did not normally understand
56:31his words to be talking about
56:33transubstantiation that the bread and
56:36wine physically become the body and
56:38blood of Jesus Christ but no they did
56:41believe that there was as Ignatius put
56:43it in communion the medicine of
56:45immortality because Paul himself said
56:48the cup of blessing which we bless is it
56:50not the communion of the blood of Christ
56:54the bread which we break is it not the
56:57communion of the body of Christ through
57:00communion we partake of the divine
57:02nature and in some way that is beyond
57:04our human understanding but we are
57:08actually physically involved now with
57:11the second Adam who is no longer a mere
57:15human but now has a glorified body and
57:17when we think of his body and blood we
57:20have to think of it in his divine nature
57:22not in his human body and blood when he
57:25was on the earth and we shouldn't get
57:27sidetracked and think that just
57:29partaking of communion will do this if
57:32we haven't been born again
57:33communion does not have this effect on
57:36us and that was one of the errors of the
57:39Roman Catholic Church and the
57:40sacramental churches I think is that
57:42they tend to make it so mechanical that
57:45as long as you receive come
57:46Union from the right priest in the right
57:49church that then it has this effect on
57:52you of being grafted into the second
57:54atom but it doesn't if you have not been
57:57born again let me read you what Peter
58:00said second Peter one three and four he
58:02says as his divine power has given us
58:05all things that pertain to life and
58:07godliness through the knowledge of him
58:09who called us by glory and virtue by
58:12which have been given to us exceedingly
58:15great and precious promises that through
58:18these you may be partakers of the divine
58:22nature having escaped the corruption
58:25that is in the world through lust so see
58:29Christ cleanses us we escaped the
58:31corruption and then we become partakers
58:33of the divine nature we actually commune
58:36with the body and blood of Christ let me
58:40read you just a few passages from the
58:41early Christians to illustrate this
58:44Justin Martyr wrote corruption became
58:47inherent in nature so it was necessary
58:50that he who wished to save us
58:51would be someone who destroyed the
58:54essential cause of corruption and this
58:57could not be done other than by the life
58:59that is according to nature being united
59:02to that life which has received
59:04corruption for this would destroy the
59:07corruption at the same time it would
59:09preserve the body that had received it
59:12within mortality for the future
59:14therefore it was necessary that the word
59:17would become possessed of a body this
59:19was so he could deliver us from the
59:21death of natural corruption for if as
59:24you suggest he had simply warded off
59:26death from us by a simple nod indeed
59:29death would not have approached us on
59:31account of his will however we would
59:33have again become corruptible for we
59:36cared about in ourselves that natural
59:38corruption and see that's I think a
59:41deficiency in the satisfaction model of
59:44the atonement and that it doesn't
59:46destroy the essential cause of
59:49corruption it only removes the penalty
59:51for that corruption whereas under the
59:54early Christian understanding through
59:57the Incarnation and through the second
59:59Adam
59:59we get right to the heart of the matter
1:00:01and Christ destroys that essential cause
1:00:04of corruption
1:00:05Irenaeus wrote when he became incarnate
1:00:08and was made man he began anew the long
1:00:12line of human beings and he furnished us
1:00:15with salvation so that what he had lost
1:00:17in Adam namely to be in the image and
1:00:20likeness of God
1:00:21we might recover in Christ Jesus volume
1:00:251 page 446 the quote from Justin was
1:00:28volume 1 page 301 again Irenaeus wrote
1:00:33the word of the Father and the Spirit of
1:00:36God had become United with the ancient
1:00:38substance of Adam's formation so it
1:00:41rendered man living and perfect
1:00:43receptive of the perfect father in order
1:00:46that as in the natural Adam we all were
1:00:49dead so in the spiritual Adam we may all
1:00:52be made alive Origen wrote therefore he
1:00:56came down into our deadness in order
1:00:58that he having died to sin we might then
1:01:02receive that life of his that is forever
1:01:05for we bear about in our body the dying
1:01:09of Jesus one last one from Methodius
1:01:13volume 6 page 378 Origen was from volume
1:01:169 page 316 Methodius wrote the word
1:01:20descended into our world and was
1:01:22incarnate of a body he did this so that
1:01:25having fashioned it into a more divine
1:01:28image he might raise it incorruptible
1:01:31even though it had been dissolved by
1:01:33time so think about how they were
1:01:37understanding the atonement the next
1:01:39time you hear some of these familiar
1:01:40passages such as isaiah 53:5 by his
1:01:44stripes we are healed see it's not just
1:01:47the penalty being taken away but our
1:01:49sinful corruption is healed is changed
1:01:53whereas Paul said for as in Adam all die
1:01:56even so in Christ all shall be made
1:01:59alive and so it is written the first man
1:02:01Adam became a living being the last Adam
1:02:05became a life-giving spirit the first
1:02:09man was of the earth made of dust the
1:02:11second man is
1:02:12the Lord from heaven there's one other
1:02:16difference between this satisfaction
1:02:18model and the early Christian model that
1:02:20I want to briefly discuss before we
1:02:23close that is in the satisfaction model
1:02:27Jesus's teachings play no role in our
1:02:31redemption or in the atonement other
1:02:35than we might say that he announced the
1:02:36weight of salvation to believe in him
1:02:38but essentially under the satisfaction
1:02:41model Jesus could have simply been born
1:02:44as a human and then on reaching manhood
1:02:47without having any ministry simply have
1:02:51died for us that's all that we would
1:02:54have needed under the satisfaction model
1:02:56he would have paid the price the penalty
1:02:58owed to God the Father and we would have
1:03:01been redeemed he didn't have to teach us
1:03:04anything in order to redeem us
1:03:06in contrast the early Christian model
1:03:09says it wasn't enough to have the
1:03:12corruption that we inherited from Adam
1:03:15undone as newborn creatures we still
1:03:19have to know the way to go the way to
1:03:22live otherwise we're gonna end up right
1:03:25back under Satan's power again see
1:03:29because the satisfaction model thinks in
1:03:31terms only of a legal penalty whether
1:03:33that legal penalty has been removed then
1:03:36doesn't matter what happens after that
1:03:38Christians aren't perfect they're just
1:03:40forgiving but see if we're thinking in
1:03:43terms of sin nature corruption in
1:03:46mankind that isn't something that is
1:03:49just quickly done away with instantly so
1:03:53that now we are perfect it's a process
1:03:57let me read you just a few passages from
1:03:59the early Christians Irenaeus wrote in
1:04:01no other way could we have learned the
1:04:03things of God unless our master existing
1:04:07as the word had become man for no other
1:04:11being had the power of revealing to us
1:04:13the things of the Father so he's saying
1:04:17it was so important that we learn the
1:04:19ways of the Father that we needed
1:04:22somebody with the same nature as a
1:04:24father
1:04:25and that would have to be Jesus Christ
1:04:27no human no angel could do that but
1:04:29somebody who was truly divine like the
1:04:31father who could come and tell us
1:04:34firsthand of divine things like Cantus
1:04:38wrote he sent his son as an ambassador
1:04:41to men so he could turn them from their
1:04:44unholy and vain worship to the knowledge
1:04:47and worship of the true God he also sent
1:04:50him so that he could turn their minds
1:04:53from foolishness to wisdom and from
1:04:55wickedness to deeds of righteousness
1:04:58that's volume 7 page 114 again like
1:05:03Tanis wrote he himself is virtue and he
1:05:06himself is righteousness accordingly he
1:05:10descended so that he could teach these
1:05:12things and mold the character of man and
1:05:16again like Tanis wrote his teaching was
1:05:19about to have such might that the
1:05:21peoples throughout the world could be
1:05:24given life through the knowledge of the
1:05:26true light thereby they could arrive at
1:05:29the rewards of immortality for
1:05:32previously they were estranged from God
1:05:34and subject to death on volume 7 page
1:05:37128 the previous was volume 7 page 117
1:05:41now don't take those quotes out of
1:05:44context and imagine that all that was
1:05:46needed was for a great teacher to come
1:05:49and teach us the right way and then we
1:05:52could be saved those quotes have to be
1:05:54taken in the context of all of these
1:05:56other quotes I've given you from the
1:05:58early church that our whole nature had
1:06:01to change but those ones illustrate that
1:06:03they understood that his teaching played
1:06:06an essential role in our redemption in
1:06:09our salvation in the atonement and think
1:06:13what John said 1st John 1:7 he said if
1:06:16we walk in the light as he is in the
1:06:20light we have fellowship with one
1:06:22another and the blood of Jesus Christ
1:06:25His Son cleanses us from all sin you
1:06:29notice how that's conditioned on an if
1:06:31if we walk in the light well how could
1:06:36we know the light unless Jesus had
1:06:38that's why his teachings are an integral
1:06:42part of the atonement because we have to
1:06:45walk in the light after we have been
1:06:47born again or else we will follow the
1:06:50same path as Adam and end up again back
1:06:53into corruption and you notice how the
1:06:56cleansing is an ongoing process he
1:07:00doesn't say the minute we believe in
1:07:02Jesus Christ and accept him as our
1:07:03personal Savior boom we are cleansed
1:07:06from all sin now he said if we walk now
1:07:09walk is a verb that connotes action
1:07:13you're moving okay so this is something
1:07:16ongoing if we walk you didn't say if we
1:07:18stand in the light or step into the
1:07:20light that could be interpreted as a
1:07:22one-time thing but walking is an ongoing
1:07:24process so the cleansing is an on-going
1:07:28process as well at this point many of
1:07:33you may be thinking yes David but what
1:07:35about all the scripture passages that do
1:07:37teach the satisfaction model of the
1:07:40atonement that Jesus was sacrifice for
1:07:43the father so that he could remit the
1:07:46penalty and all of them well the answer
1:07:50is that every single passage that you
1:07:53can think of that would support this
1:07:56satisfaction model can be read in two
1:07:59ways it can be read under the
1:08:01satisfaction model interpretation and
1:08:03that's why I have no bone to pick with
1:08:06somebody who wants to hold to that
1:08:09because I understand yes you can quote
1:08:11scripture after Scripture but every one
1:08:14of those scriptures can also be
1:08:15interpreted under the early Christian
1:08:17model the problem is we have been so
1:08:20engrained with the satisfaction model
1:08:23we've heard it from almost the beginning
1:08:24before we were even a Christian it was
1:08:26probably presented in the Gospel message
1:08:29given to us so we've always read that
1:08:32into those verses we've always had these
1:08:35eyeglasses on called satisfaction model
1:08:38and by now those interpretations are
1:08:41ingrained in us and it's very hard to
1:08:43change the way we've always looked at
1:08:45those verses perhaps I have an easier
1:08:49time because growing up as a
1:08:51as witness I recent point my life where
1:08:54I had to lay down everything I had grown
1:08:56up to believe and just start with a
1:08:58blank slate what really is true and it's
1:09:01a painful process but I'm glad that God
1:09:04led me through that process of having to
1:09:07lay things down and look with a blank
1:09:10slate look and see objectively what do
1:09:12the Scriptures actually say can they be
1:09:14interpreted in more than one way let me
1:09:16give you an illustration
1:09:18you probably remember the passage in
1:09:19acts it says Paul says I taught you
1:09:22publicly and from house to house I was a
1:09:25favorite scripture that we quoted as
1:09:27jovis witnesses acts 20:20 I mean after
1:09:29all these years I still remember where
1:09:31that passage is well to us that passage
1:09:34meant Paul went house-to-house like
1:09:36Jehovah's Witnesses do canvassing a
1:09:38neighborhood knocking on every door
1:09:39offering them the latest issue the
1:09:41watchtower or you know the equivalent of
1:09:43that back in the first century and it
1:09:46never occurred to us that that verse
1:09:47could mean anything different than that
1:09:48Paul went house-to-house what's wrong
1:09:51with Chris and him they don't go
1:09:53house-to-house were the only ones who go
1:09:54house-to-house like Paul did that's
1:09:56that's what we said to ourselves well
1:09:58now to most of you that would sound like
1:10:00a strange interpretation Oh Paul's
1:10:02merely saying that as Acts said they
1:10:04broke bread together from house to house
1:10:06that he taught in their various homes as
1:10:08well out in the marketplaces and and in
1:10:11public places doesn't say he was out
1:10:14canvassing knocking on every door in the
1:10:17neighborhood mike weis matthew 24:14
1:10:19jesus said the gospel of the kingdom
1:10:22will be preached in all the world as a
1:10:24witness to all the nations and then the
1:10:26end will come
1:10:27now as the Jove is witness you
1:10:29understood that to mean that throughout
1:10:31the whole world there would be people
1:10:33knocking on everybody's door going
1:10:35house-to-house knocking on the doors
1:10:37that's what Jesus had foretold the
1:10:39preaching of the kingdom this
1:10:40house-to-house canvassing and again we'd
1:10:43say well nobody else is doing this work
1:10:45that Jesus foretold except Jehovah's
1:10:47Witnesses again you would read that and
1:10:50in your mind you probably say well he's
1:10:52saying that there would be evangelist it
1:10:54would be meetings that that people would
1:10:56be witnessing to their neighbors the
1:10:58kingdom would be priests what you
1:11:01wouldn't imagine that to be specifically
1:11:03saying that it would be a house-to-house
1:11:04canvass
1:11:05thing going on but as I said we were so
1:11:08used to having it interpreted that way
1:11:09it never even occurred to me that you
1:11:11could look at those verses in a
1:11:13different way not until like I say years
1:11:15after I left the witnesses it's sort of
1:11:18like one of those optical illusions you
1:11:19look at them one way I can think of one
1:11:22where it looks like there's stairs going
1:11:24up they start at the lower left-hand
1:11:26corner of the page and they go up to the
1:11:29right but then if you look away then
1:11:31look back again at it well now it looks
1:11:33like those stairs are going down
1:11:34starting at the top of the left hand of
1:11:36the page and going down towards the
1:11:38right well it's the same way with all of
1:11:40these atonement passages you can read
1:11:43either interpretation into them which
1:11:45pair of reading glasses is correct the
1:11:48satisfaction one or the early Christian
1:11:50ones well I don't think any human can
1:11:52answer that with certainty I personally
1:11:56think the early Christian model better
1:11:58fits the picture of a loving father then
1:12:00does this satisfaction model I think it
1:12:03explains more correctly the way of the
1:12:05kingdom and what the Christian life is
1:12:08all about and I'm also much more
1:12:10inclined to accept the historic view of
1:12:13the church that we can trace back to the
1:12:16early centuries rather than accepting a
1:12:18model that we can't find anybody
1:12:20teaching before like a thousand years
1:12:23after Jesus died well in conclusion I do
1:12:27want to remind you that this has been a
1:12:29quick overview there's a lot more that
1:12:31could be said on the subject and maybe
1:12:33someday I'll be able to go into it in
1:12:35more detail but let's just briefly
1:12:37review the seven things the early
1:12:39Christians saw in the atonement they saw
1:12:42forgiveness rather than a payment being
1:12:45made to God God forgave our debt
1:12:48secondly Jesus ransomed us not from an
1:12:51angry father but from Satan the devil
1:12:54and from the power of evil of death
1:12:57number three they saw a sacrificial
1:13:00death Jesus died as a sacrifice but as a
1:13:03heroic sacrifice dying so that Satan
1:13:07would release us giving up his life so
1:13:10that we could be free they also saw that
1:13:14an essential part of the atonement was
1:13:16victory over Satan that G
1:13:18through his resurrection was able to
1:13:21bind the strongman and release the
1:13:23captives in Hades as the scripture say
1:13:27they saw that his blood actually
1:13:30cleanses us from sin allowing us to be
1:13:33reconciled to the Father that that's the
1:13:35barrier between us and the father is our
1:13:37sin he cleanses us from that sin the
1:13:41sixth point is that they saw that Jesus
1:13:43became a second Adam through the
1:13:46Incarnation
1:13:47and through the new birth we can tie in
1:13:50as a descendant of this second Adam and
1:13:53this undoes the mortality and the
1:13:55corruption in our human nature from Adam
1:13:58the first Adam and finally they saw as a
1:14:02part of the atonement Jesus teaching us
1:14:05and revealing to us the heavenly ways of
1:14:08the Father
1:14:17you