Brian GC
Theology is the academic study of things pertaining to God and uses terms that are not necessarily Biblical. The word "Rapture" is a case in point. However in 1st Thessalonians 4:17 we see the words "caught up" referring to a day to come when we (Christians who are alive at the time) shall be 'caught up' into the clouds (with those believers who have died), to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we together ever be with the Lord.
ἁρπάζω harpazō; to seize (in various applications): - catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force). It is suggested the Latin rapere to snatch is where 'rapture' originated.
However the word "Rapture" is not found in Scripture. Yet in theology it refers to the catching away of the Church age believers into the air to ever be with the Lord. The word 'atonement' however is used in both the scriptures and also in theology, but the biblical use and meaning of this word must be clearly distinguished from its use in theology.
In its theological meaning, atonement covers the whole sacrificial and redemptive work of Christ in redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, imputation and justification. It is sometimes referred to as "at-one-ment" to differentiate between the scriptural use and the theological.
The word atone, atonement etc, is found only in the Old Testament of our English Bible where it is translated from the Hebrew word kaphar which means cover, coverings or to cover.
There is one use of the word atonement in the NT of the KJV; in Romans 5:11, where it is translated from the Greek word kattalage from kattalasso which means to reconcile or 'receive one into favour`. No where in the Greek N.T. is there an equivalent word to the Hebrew kaphar in regards to the doing away of sin.
Exodus 29:36
“Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement (to make a covering for those sins). Purify the altar by making atonement for it (to make a spiritual covering for its earthly and therefore temporal substance), and anoint it to consecrate it”.
Leviticus 5:6
“...and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement (will make, by that offering, a covering) for him for his sin”.
Leviticus 17:11
“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement (to make a covering) for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement (that covers) for one's life”.
The Biblical use must be clearly distinguished from the theological, even though the theological use is descriptive and meaningful.
The Levitical sacrifices ‘covered’ the sins of Israel until and in anticipation of the Cross, but did not ‘take away’ those sins. For as Hebrews 10:4 says: “... [it is] not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins...”
These were the sins committed before the Cross, yet ‘covered’ meanwhile by the Levitical sacrifices of bulls and of goats. These sins God ‘passed over’ but did not ‘take away’, therefore God's justice and righteousness were never fulfilled in regards to these past sins until Jesus Christ was ‘set forth a propitiation’, when he gave himself as a ‘sacrifice for sin’ and bore the judgement that these and all sin deserve.
Romans 3:25 is speaking of our ‘so great salvation’ in Christ when it states...
"... Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood..."
This same verse goes on to say that in Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice God demonstrated his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished but now his justice has been vindicated by the judgement of those sins in the death of the sin bearer, Jesus Christ our Lord. Propitiation is the satisfying of God's just and holy character regarding sin.
Sin is repugnant to God, not just the ‘Big’ sins of murder, fornication and drunkenness etc, but every sin, every thought that is enacted without faith, for as Romans 14:23 says, “...That which is not of faith is sin...".
The wages, or "the just penalty of sin is death", yet God withheld his judgement until the Cross, then and only then did he pour out his judgement for sin by making Christ who knew no sin, sin for us and judging his Son in the sinners stead. This includes all mankind, but the context of this passage in Hebrews is specifically to do with the sins committed prior to the Cross, the sins of Israel in Old Testament times. Hebrews is a book written to Jewish Christians describing the inadequacy of the Levitical sacrifices and the adequacy of the sacrifice of Christ for sin.
It was the Cross, not the Levitical sacrifices which made ‘at-one-ment’, yet the atoning or covering sacrifices of the O.T. enabled God to deal in mercy with a guilty people because the sacrifices typified the Cross. To the one offering the sacrifices, they were the confession of his deserving of death, and the expression of his faith in God’s provision. To God those sacrifices were the shadows of which Christ was the substance.
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make those who come to it perfect". Hebrews 10:1
Theological atonement or (at one ment) is a theological term for the New Testament doctrines of propitiation, redemption, reconciliation, imputation and justification. It is unlimited for it is available to all of mankind. We see this in...
1John 2:2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world”.
1Tim 4:10 “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe”.
See also: 2Cor 5:14 & 19; 1Tim 2:6; Tit 2:11; Heb 2:9.
The Levitical sacrifice of atonement was sufficient only to cover the sins of Israel; the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ was sufficient to take away sin, to propitiate God and to bring salvation to all mankind.
I repeat the point: the O.T. presentation of atonement was through the verb kaphar meaning to cover or to pass over. Animal sacrifices were used to cover sin and as an aid to teaching the saving work of Messiah/Christ on the cross. In the sacrifices, the O.T. believers revealed their faith in God’s provision, which is Messiah, or in the Greek, Christ, and were saved by that faith.
Hebrews 9:6-7 “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people”
Hebrews 9:11-12 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
Jesus Christ, by means of his death on the Cross, fulfilled salvation by grace and ushered in a new testament of grace through faith, a testament which was in direct contrast to that old testament of obedience to the Law.
It was by means of his death that the sins of O.T. believers (temporarily covered (atoned) by the sacrifices) were taken away, and they, elected from eternity past as we were, also received the promise of eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15).
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which having been called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us”
Hebrews 9:28 “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
Hebrews 10:9-14 “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second. By the which will, (the will of God which he had come to do), we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.”
Christ has redeemed us by His death on the Cross, therein paying the wages of sin with his own life on the Father's chosen sacrificial alter, and because we have been baptised by the Spirit into an eternal union with Him we too are set apart or sanctified to God.
The outworking of sanctification is a new life of confidence toward God, our minds purified by the water of God’s word and clear of guilt because now we are new creatures in Christ, old things are passed away, behold all things are new.
Hebrews 10:16-22 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
A point to remember regarding this gospel we preach is this: All mankind, Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, even Adolf Hitler, all had the same opportunity to be saved, the propitiatory sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ was for the whole world of men, however only those who believe in him will have salvation. All others will be judged according to the books of Revelation 20:12-15:
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”.
In these verses we see the existence of certain books, the book of life, wherein is written the names of all those who throughout history have believed in God their Saviour, and the books of works, the life history of all who do not believe in God their Saviour.
In John 6:28 the Jews asked Jesus, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." The work of faith...
All those whose names are not written in the book of life will be judged according to their deeds and will be found wanting – wanting in both Divine righteousness and eternal life - those great and eternal gifts that God has imputed, or placed to our credit, freely and without cost to us. God is justified in doing this because Christ fully met the demands of perfect justice and paid the wages of sin in his own body on the tree. We are justified, not by the works of our sinful flesh, but because we do no more than accept that which God has done for us in His Son.
"...It is by Gods grace we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is a gift of God not of works lest any should boast..."
We have touched on the scriptural meaning and use of atonement and on the theological meaning. The scriptures only ever refer atonement to the sins committed during the covenant of the Old Testament and in that atonement is displayed the grace of God to those of O.T. faith. At-one-ment, or our full and free salvation in Christ, is the story of the New Testament and the gospel Christians have been given to take into ‘all the world’.
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