TEACHING NOTES Introduction In this session we’re going to cover the doctrine of salvation and atonement. As with the other parts of this series, this topic could take many weeks to cover in full. This session is meant to be only a simplified overview of how the doctrine changed over time. There are two parts or directions of salvation to cover: (1) what God did to save us, (2) how we receive what God has done. This session will focus on the first—what God did to save us—and next week we will discuss faith and works, which deals with how we receive salvation. ‌ Resources for Further Study: - "Two Views of the Cross: Orthodoxy and the West" by Frederica Mathewes-Green - "The Religion of the Apostles: Orthodox Christianity in the First Century" by Stephen De Young - "Welcoming Gifts: Sacrifice in the Bible and Christian Life" by Jeremy Davis ‌ The Modern View: God’s justice demands that He must punish sin with death and hell. Since all people are sinners, God sent His Son to take the punishment of death and satisfy His wrath for sin so we can miss hell and hit heaven. ‌ The Ancient View: God displayed His love for sinners by sending His Son to rescue them from the power of sin and death and bring them back to the Father. ‌ What does the Bible teach? Most of the occurences of salvation in the Old Testament occur in the context of being saved from an enemy or enemies. This is the foundation for understanding salvation in the New Testament. The Jewish authors of the New Testament are using words and concepts from the Old Testament. They are NOT creating new ideas, but presenting Jesus as the fulfilment of the Old Testament. Therefore, if we misunderstand the Old Testament, we will also misunderstand the New Testament. ‌ Note: It is often said that salvation in the Old Testament was based on “works” and in the New Testament salvation is based on “faith.” This is an example of misunderstanding God’s covenant with Israel in the Old Testament. This will be covered in detail next week (faith & works). ‌ Salvation in the Bible: ‌ The first use of “salvation” in the Bible is in Gen. 49:16-18 where Jacob says of one of his sons, “Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path…I wait for your salvation, O LORD.” ‌ The next use of “salvation” appears in Exodus 14:13 when the Israelites are standing at the Red/Reed Sea with the Egyptian army closing in behind them. Moses says to the Israelites, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.” ‌ Hebrew - yeshuah and Greek - soterion or sozo = deliverance, safety, rescue, help, preserve, protect from an enemy. ‌ “Atonement” in Hebrew & Greek The English word “atonement” did not exist until John Wycliff coined the term when translating the Latin Vulgate into English. Wycliff created the English word “at-one-ment” which later became one compound word. ‌ Hebrew = kfr or kpr - to wipe, cover. This Hebrew word refers to what the priest would do in the tabernacle. Blood (life) was “wiped” on various places and objects to “cover” sin and death. This ritual symbolized purification from sin and death. Kfr/Kippur appears repeatedly in Leviticus an is often translated “atonement.” For example, the Day of Atonement in Lev. 16 is literally Yom Kippur in Hebrew. ‌ Greek = hilasmos - atoning sacrifice, means of mercy/forgiveness, remedy for defilement or purification. The root of hilasmos is ileos, which means gracious or merciful. This was the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew kippur in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek Old Testament). Therefore, the New Testament uses this word according to its Hebrew context, not according to its pagan Greek context. ‌ Hilasmos in pagan Greek literature takes a different meaning. Instead of meaning “a means of mercy and forgiveness” or “to purify from sin and death” as the Hebrew kippur conveys, pagan religion used hilasmos to mean “appeasement.” In pagan religion sacrifices were done to appease or bribe the angry gods. This was the opposite purpose of sacrifice in the Old Testament. ‌ Atonement in Early Christianity: The Ante-Nicene Fathers, that is faithful Christian writers before the Council of Nicea in AD 325, used various terms to describe what Jesus did to save us. These terms were drawn from the Bible and used as illustrations to describe God’s work of salvation and atonement. ‌ - Ransomed = Jesus gave His life to give us life. - Redeemed = Jesus liberated us from slavery to sin and death. - Delivered = Jesus took us from satan and gave us to God. - Saved = Jesus rescued us from sin/satan and death. ‌ How “Atonement” Began to Change: ‌ St. Jerome (AD 400) Around AD 400 the Greek Bible was translated by St. Jerome into Latin. He also used Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament to supplement the Greek. When Jerome translated the Hebrew kippur and the Greek hilasmos, he chose the Latin word propitiatio which means to appease anger or wrath. Jerome could have used other Latin words for “mercy” like misericordia and clementia, but he chose propitiatio instead. This choice was likely due to the fact that Jerome grew up in pagan religion where sacrifices were about appeasing the anger of the gods. ‌ 1 John 4:10 ‌ Greek “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the hilasmos for our sins.” ‌ The Good News: God loved us so much that He sent His Son to be the way of mercy/forgiveness for our sins. ‌ Latin “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiatio for our sins.” “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to appease his wrath for our sins.” ‌ The Good News became: God is angry at sinners and must kill us because His justice demands punishment. However, God killed His innocent Son to appease His wrath against the guilty. ‌ Later Developments: ‌ AD 600-700 Atonement became a huge debate in the western church in the 7th and 8th centuries AD. The debates centered around the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and how that event saves sinners. Previously in church history, discussions about the atonement were focused on describing what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Now the discussions became focused on explaining how and why Jesus accomplished atonement. ‌ AD 1094 St. Anselm of Canterbury wrote Cur Deus Homo (“Why the God-Man?”). In this book, Anselm argues that the purpose of Christ’s death was to satisfy the demands of God’s justice because our sins had injured God’s honor. Since God has the highest honor, the death of sinners is not sufficient to restore God’s honor and satisfy His wrath. Therefore, Jesus came to be a sinless human sacrifice who would die to satisfy God’s wrath and restore His honor. ‌ The Middle Ages In the middle ages, the ransom theory developed from “rescue” to “repayment.” In this theory, Jesus came to pay off the debt of our sins to the Father. This developed in a culture steeped in a feudal justice system. In that system, forgiveness cannot be given without restitution. Therefore, theologians began teaching that God cannot forgive sin without payment. They saw the Old Testament sacrifices as payments for God’s forgiveness. So, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice/payment for our sins because we could not repay our sin-debt. Also, because Jesus paid a debt that He didn’t owe, God now owes Jesus for our salvation. ‌ The Protestant Reformation (1500s) Rebellion against the selling of indulgences and many other practices of the Roman Catholic Church. However, the reformers kept much of the foundational theology behind the heretical practices of the Roman Catholic Church. In many ways they increased the focus on God’s wrath and His “need” for justice and retribution for sin. ‌ Review: - God’s wrath for sin must be appeased. ‌- God can’t forgive without payment. - Humans cannot pay enough for their sin. - Therefore, God sent His Son to kill Him so God could appease His own wrath. ‌ Problems: 1. Who decides what God can and can’t do? 2. Who decided that God had to be paid off? 3. Jesus forgave without payment. 4. Jesus taught forgiveness without payment. ‌- Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) ‌- Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18) ‌- Parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7) ‌ Illustration: Imagine being at a restaurant and at the end of the meal you realize that you left your money at home. You have just created a debt that you cannot pay. Now imagine these two solutions: ‌ 1. Another customer pays for you. 2. The owner says, “It’s on the house!” ‌ Which of these is forgiveness? If another customer pays your bill for you, that is not forgiveness—that’s third-party payment. However, if the owner decides to give you the meal without cost, that is true forgiveness. God is the owner of everything and that is how God forgives. And that is how God commands us to forgive. ‌ Now think about this... ‌ Jesus said in Matthew 6:12 “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Paul wrote in Colossians 3:13 “if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” ‌ If Anselm was right that God cannot forgive without making someone pay, and Scripture commands us to forgive like God forgives, then we should not forgive without making people pay for their sin first. ‌ Exodus/Passover is the Template for Salvation: ‌Enemy = the gods of Egypt (Pharaoh) ‌Problem = God’s people are enslaved/suffering ‌Solution = Deliver God’s people out of Egypt ‌Purpose = “so they may serve me” & “to be a light to the nations” ‌Destination = a new land, Promised Land ‌ Salvation in the New Testament: Enemy = “the ruler of this world” sin/satan Problem = God’s people are enslaved/suffering Solution = Deliver God’s people from slavery Purpose = “so they may serve me” & “to be the light the world” Destination = a new land, new creation ‌ Conclusion ‌ Theories of salvation and atonement that came later were based on mistranslations and imported cultural ideas. ‌ The most ancient view of salvation and atonement was based on the original texts of the Bible using words, phrases, and imagery found within the Bible. ‌ Later views of salvation seem to have God’s wrath and justice as the foundation. ‌ The most ancient view seems to have God’s love for humanity as the foundation. ‌ Ephesians 2:4–5 “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” ‌ Next Week: Faith & Works Ephesians 2:8–10 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”