The Sacrifice of Jesus: Understanding Atonement Biblically

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The New Testament will take up these kinds of questions, but at the very least we can say that the Old Testament sacrificial system established the structure and frame of reference with regard to God’s redemptive purpose: Sinners may obtain divine favor if an acceptable substitute could be found to offer to God in sacrifice. The Death of Christ as a Sacrifice Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:19-24). The New Testament frequently describes Jesus's death and resurrection as a victory over evil and sin as reprsented by the Devil. How was the victory achieved? Theologians have grouped together theories of the atonement into different types. For example, in Christus Victor (1931) Gustaf Aulén suggested three types: classical, Latin and subjective.

The theme of Jesus's death as a sacrifice is most drawn out in the Letter to the Hebrews. The sacrifice of Christ is seen as the perfect sacrifice.

This the route older translations, and the NASB, go: “whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith” (the NASB adds a note that it could also be “propitiatory sacrifice”). The image of Jesus' death as a sacrifice is the most popular in the New Testament. The New Testament uses the Old Testament image of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:5) and applies it to Christ.

And it is especially true when we stumble upon the Greek word hilasterion while reading Romans 3:25: That is, if the sacrifice of Christ, offered once for all, was accepted in heaven itself, effecting forgiveness and gaining access to God, then let us be bold, confident in approaching God assured of our acceptance. Let us be confident, assured of our acceptance there with unwavering faith. Let us persevere through any difficulty with confidence of our final salvation, and let us encourage one another to the same. Concluding ThoughtsOur lives: Remind the quorum of the discussion from the last meeting. What experiences have we had with applying what we learned? What experiences have we had in the past few weeks that strengthened our testimonies of the gospel? In the Revised Standard Version the word reconciliation replaces the word atonement. Atonement (at-one-ment) is the reconciliation of men and women to God through the death of Jesus. The words atone or atonement appear over one-hundred times in Scripture. It has a rich meaning; at its root it means “to cover.” There are many other words associated with it, among them are: cleanse, forgive, be merciful, and reconcile. It has been stated that the atonement is the axis on which all other doctrines revolve. This is because without what Christ did on the cross, there would be no need for any other doctrine.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” ( Galatians 5:1). Looking through the eyes and understanding of the world, the true meaning of atonement becomes somewhat diluted. One of the most basic definitions of this word can be found in the Cambridge Dictionary, which states simply that atonement is, “something that you do to show that you are sorry for something you did.” The last option is the one that seems the most obvious and often the least appreciated. If Heb. 9:5, which uses the same word ( hilasterion)—but by an author who isn’t Paul—, and this word clearly refers to the physical place (the lid) on the ark of the covenant known as the “mercy seat”, then Paul probably means the same thing. What will Adam and Eve do at that moment when they feel their emptiness? What will happen when their brokenness cries out to them? What happens when your eyes are open to not only your brokenness but also the shame and guilt that come with sin? The death and resurrection of this one man is at the very heart of the Christian faith. For Christians it is through Jesus's death that people's broken relationship with God is restored. This is known as the Atonement. What is the atonement?The Bible in the Literary Imagination of the Spanish Golden Age: Images and Texts from Columbus to Velazquez. Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover [ hilasterion].” (Heb. 9:5) For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” –Mark 10:45 In this kind of imperial milieu, the request in 1 Timothy 2:2 to pray “ for kings” instead of “ to the kings” takes on new meaning. It implies most ostensibly that rulers, like everybody else, depend on the guidance and mercy of God. Furthermore, it indirectly implies that they are not divine but mortal humans. When I think of the atonement, there is one verse that I believe encompasses all that we have said, and so much more. It is what the atonement means to each and every one of us who are in Christ.

The "sacrifice" of Jesus is one of the most central doctrines in Christianity-- and one of the most controversial, especially in contemporary debate (and after the appearance of films such as The Passion of the Christ). The implications of a violent parent and the necessity of innocent suffering are profoundly troubling to many people. Are they nevertheless necessary elements of Christian theology? In the last post we talked about the blood of Jesus, and how it is better thought as a cleansing agent of life rather than a demand for death. Some proponents of “propitiation” will say that the concept of “expiation” should not be opposed to propitiation because they actually can both work together. They claim that God’s wrath can be appeased at the same time as our sins are cleansed. While this is technically true for of the theological concepts, we must not import theological concepts into words. Instead, we need to ask, which concept is mostly likely being used through this word by this author in this text. The evidence leans more toward expiation/cleansing than propitiation/appeasement.

More often, the idea of atonement concerns cleansing a person who has sinned or become defiled in some way: for a woman after childbirth (Leviticus 12:8), a leper who had been healed (Leviticus 14:18–19), or a Nazirite who had broken his vows, even accidentally (Numbers 6:11). The most common uses of atonement have to do with sacrifices for an individual sinner (Numbers 5:7–9), a group such as the Levites before they perform temple services (Numbers 8:12), and even the nation as a whole. Leviticus 16 explains the Day of Atonement when the sins of the whole nation are dealt with by a sacrifice. Greater than the empowerment which they had experienced and the wondrous miracles they no doubt had witnessed, Jesus reminded them of the greater miracle that they should be thankful for: their salvation. Though Christ had not yet died on the cross, it is our faith in what that atoning act accomplished which saves us, and Christ said to rejoice in that. In other words, the fact that we are forgiven and on our way to heaven should fill us with a gratefulness that surpasses all the miracles that we will ever see. Without adding anything to Scripture, this could very well read, “we have peace with God through the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The atonement is most definitely implied in this verse. This essay is part of the Concise Theology series. All views expressed in this essay are those of the author. This essay is freely available under Creative Commons License with Attribution-ShareAlike, allowing users to share it in other mediums/formats and adapt/translate the content as long as an attribution link, indication of changes, and the same Creative Commons License applies to that material. If you are interested in translating our content or are interested in joining our community of translators, please reach out to us.