Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast. My name is Costi Hinn, and I am your host. For the Gospel is all about providing sound doctrine for everyday people. And on this episode, I want to talk to you about the doctrine of the atonement. The idea of atonement is one that is thrown around a lot today in church circles. And maybe you're new to church or new to Christianity or you've been a professing Christian for a long time. You've probably heard the atonement in an Easter sermon or a Good Friday sermon in relation to Christ dying on the cross. But there's a lot of confusion as well about the atonement. Some people will say Jesus died for your sins and you receive salvation by faith, which is true. They'll also say, hey, he didn't just pay for your sin, he paid for your sickness. He atoned for that cancer. He atoned for your poverty. And you can receive healing and you could receive riches if you just believe by faith as well. And the atonement gets stamped on a lot of things. Now, there are some truths that we want to talk about in relation to healing and in relation to the blessings of God through the atonement, and we'll get to those shortly. But I think it's important for us to understand what the idea of atonement is all about. I want to read you a passage where we see the atonement very clear in Scripture. It's 1 John chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. John writes, My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you don't sin. And if anyone sins, because he knows that people are going to sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And then he calls Jesus something in verse 2. He himself, 1 John 2, verse 2, is the propitiation for our sins, not only for ours only, but also those of the whole world or the cosmos. And basically what John is saying is that Jesus is the atonement, the propitiation. That's what the Greek word is translated as atonement. And the word defines that which appeases anger. If you look up the word atonement, it means that there has been an act which has brought about reconciliation with someone who has reason to be angry. Now, if you know a little bit about the gospel, you can surmise that there is one person who is angry at sin, and that is God. His wrath is pointed towards sin. We see that in Romans 1.18 that the wrath of God is really targeted at or pointed towards the unrighteous. And so God is righteously angry towards sin, and there needs to be justice or a payment. Something has to be atoned for. So his anger, his wrath would be appeased. This is a doctrinal truth called penal substitutionary atonement. It basically is this Jesus paid the penalty, that's that penal idea, as our substitute, there's substitutionary, and then he atoned for our sins. That's atonement. He appeased the anger of God. He satisfied the wrath of God. He took upon himself the full punishment in our place, allowing us to what? Well, be invited into relationship with God again. The thing that Adam ruined with original sin is now made possible again through Christ. And that is fellowship with God, relationship with God, healing between a holy God and sinful mankind. Now, that seems simple enough, right? But there are those who hate this doctrine. They would say that what I just described as penal substitutionary atonement, or the atonement in a doctrinal sense, makes God out to be a bloodthirsty, cosmic child abuser who killed his own son needlessly. That a God of love would never be angry, that he would never be associated with wrath. He's a God of love. God is love, they'll argue. Why in the world would he do something so horrible to his son? Well, how do they get away with that thinking in relation to how sin is dealt with? In other words, okay, let's say that we're right. Well, then how do you deal with sin if God never punishes it or nothing ever pays for it? Well, they surmise that number one, Jesus was just a moral example. He was just so loving, and his model of love is all that we need to follow. And this counteracts sin, his love. And it gets us into favor with God again. That idea is absolutely unbiblical. Not that Jesus wasn't a moral example, he certainly was perfect. Not that he wasn't loving, he was the most loving of all. But his love was not enough to counteract the effects of sin in just that he had love. No, love drove him to the cross. For God so loved the world that he sent his only son. There had to be payment, there had to be atonement. Another uh doctrinal belief that is held to get away with this idea that God would punish his son in our place is something you might hear is called Christus Victor. Basically, that Jesus died, then he rose again to defeat death. So he did die, but it was much more of a sacrificial death. Like, hey, look what I can do. I'm gonna lay my life down, I'm gonna go ahead and die, and then I'm gonna raise again from the dead. Just believe in that, just believe in me. Now, again, almost fully true. So close to the actual reality of the atonement, but so close is not enough. God's wrath punished his son. He didn't just die on the cross to die a death that is sort of exemplary. He didn't just go, well, I'm gonna die and raise again real quick, and that'll kind of handle sin. No, the wrath of God fell upon his son. Christus Victor is a way to get around the horrific wrath of God, the reality that he punished his son, and it focuses just on, hey, look, look what Jesus did. He raised from the dead, believe in him. Again, a little bit of truth in both of those moral arguments or doctrinal arguments, but not fully there. Sure, Christ is morally perfect, he's loving. That's not how sin was atoned for. Yes, he's victorious, and we should believe in him, but that is not even how sin was atoned for. People, again, lean into these theories as the primary way that sin was dealt with because they don't want to face the fact that God would be angry with their sin. They don't like that blood would need to be shed to atone for sin. They project their own ideas onto God and they say things like, Well, I just don't think God would ever do something like that. The God I believe in would never do that sort of thing. This is the kind of thinking that comes from Satan. He tries to get people to ignore the truth or believe in lies, just like he did in the Garden of Eden so long ago when he told Eve essentially, Oh, you surely shall not die. God really didn't say that. Or when it comes to penal substitution now, he'll get people to think, oh, God would never do that to his son. He was just a moral example. Or he just died and rose as an example or as a sacrifice. It didn't really do anything. It didn't really uh receive any punishment from God. God wasn't angry. Uh, one theory is so deceptive with regard to the atonement that it is so uh misconstrued in regards to the Old Testament. It'll tell people this the God of the Old Testament, who poured out his wrath in the Old Testament, who dealt with wickedness and shows his anger towards the unrighteous, actually changed. The Old Testament God, oh, he's angry. In the New Testament, this is a whole new God, and he is just so loving. God evolved. Some have argued that as well to get around the idea of penal substitutionary atonement. They would much rather have a God who is nothing more than a sort of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Hollywood Jesus who, you know, pets lambs and kisses babies and just lets everyone into heaven, but that's not it. The Bible teaches that sin must be atoned for. First Peter 2 24 says he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. If all it was needed, if all that was needed for Jesus to atone for sin was his morality, and he just needed to be a good example of love, why does the Old Testament and the New Testament make reference to his wounds accomplishing something? He had to be wounded for our transgressions. Second Corinthians 5 21 says, For our sake, he made him sin, who knew no sin. So he literally made him into a sin, he made him into a curse, that we might become the righteousness of God. God made his perfect son sin. Well, what does God do to sin? He judges it, he punishes it, he demands atonement for it. Basically, uh elsewhere in the New Testament, Paul says this in 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 5 through 10. That's the full thought. He says, This is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering, since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you. God is a God of justice, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. Even Paul pointed to a God who judges, pointed to a God of wrath who will make his ways known and his justice known throughout all the earth. Through what? Vengeance upon sin and the wicked. That is a God who deals with sin in a very real and physical way. So, right off the bat, when we're talking about the atonement here, first major thought, don't run from the atonement. Don't run from the idea of God's wrath. Face it. And face how much you are dependent on Christ. Do you sin? Do you lust? Do you fight? Do you manipulate? Yes, we all do in many ways. And God is growing us, and the gospel is filled with grace. But in the end, I am so glad. We ought to be so glad that there was a price paid for our sin, and the wrath of God has been appeased through Christ because then we no longer stand condemned. There's kind of a famous American banker. You probably know him, his name is John Pierpont Morgan, JP Morgan, like Chase. He died in 1913. And in his last will and testament, there was a statement, and it showed his genuine faith. It was a showcase of actually what he believed all his life. And he prefaced his specific requests in his will with these words I commit my soul into the hands of my Savior, in full confidence that having received it and washed it in his most precious blood, he will present it faultless before the throne of my heavenly Father. And I entreat my children to maintain and defend at all hazard and at any cost of personal sacrifice the blessed doctrine of the complete atonement for sin through the blood of Jesus Christ once offered and through that alone. Even one of the greatest bankers we know today, as JP Morgan, knew that the greatest price ever paid had nothing to do with anything he had ever bought or with his bank balance or anything he had financed, but rather what Jesus paid for with his own blood. And there's blessings in the atonement. I want to highlight that as well as we understand more the riches of it. In 1 John 2 2, there in the latter half, he says he was atoned or was the propitiation for our sins. Well, if he is atoned for our sins, then there obviously is benefits to that. We've talked about one, that we no longer stand condemned, and the wrath of God is not pointed at us. But let me boil these down even further into specific applications. First of all, based on the atonement, you and I now have an eternal purpose and an earthly one. Acts 1.8, Jesus says to his disciples, You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Christ's atoning work on the cross began at Calvary, but it still continues and it extends to all people across the world. That is our job description. So the atonement isn't just, oh, hey, God saved you from the wrath of God. Go ahead and enjoy it. No, it's God saved you from his wrath through his son. Now go and be a witness. That's a blessing. That's a purpose. Here are some more. A right relationship with God. You and I would have no chance at enjoying a relationship with God, but because of the atonement, you get to call him Father. Why do we call God Father? Why are your prayers heard? Why are you told to cast all your anxieties on him? Why don't you really have to work hard for God's attention because he loves you and you've been reconciled to him through his son? Second Corinthians 5, 18 and 19 says it like this: all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That is in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. There it is again in the sense that you're a witness. Not only are you restored to God in relationship, but we offer that to others saying, Hey, look at the Father. Look at what he's done for me. I want you to know him too. Another benefit of the atonement is no condemnation for sin. Romans 8:1 says there's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. If you're a believer, the atonement has been applied to you, and it guarantees that you will go to heaven and not experience whiplash. What do I mean by that? Well, God's not luring you into heaven, and grace is gonna bring you there, and then you're gonna get there and you're gonna be slapped with punishment or slapped with judgment. There is no condemnation for your sin. You're not gonna get whiplash in heaven. You're not gonna pay for anything. There's no backhanded thing coming. You know how in life people will say they forgive you, but then eventually come back around and you get stabbed in the back. It's not like that with the Lord. No condemnation means no condemnation. The atonement has covered it. His wrath has been satisfied, his love and grace pour out upon you. Another benefit, and I've already pointed to this, eternal life, though. Specifically, the atonement guarantees that this life is not going to be your best life. People like Joel Osteen will tell you, you can live your best life now, and they're all about what you're gonna get on earth. For the sheep who hear the shepherd's voice, for the believer who follows Christ, nothing can steal your eternal destiny in glory. Some people think they can lose their salvation. No, the atonement guarantees if you're truly saved, you will stay saved. Jesus said in John 10, 27 to 28, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Another benefit: no more crying, no more pain, no more sadness, no more death. That is something that faith healers will sell you as a now thing. Hey, because of the atonement, just claim it by faith. You should never be sick, you should never be poor, you should never be sad. Well, we know that there are benefits to the atonement, but passages like Revelation 21:4 remind us that those are promises to come. They're going to be fully realized in heaven. You're not guaranteed healing on earth, you're guaranteed in heaven. You're not guaranteed riches on earth, you are guaranteed treasure in heaven. And you aren't guaranteed a pain-free life here on earth, but you're guaranteed a pain-free life in heaven because of the atonement. Your best life isn't now. Your best life is to come. Revelation 21, 4 says, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Honestly, for some of you, this is the best news that you've heard all year long. No depression one day, no tears of sadness one day, no sickness one day, cancer will never touch you one day, nobody will ever die again one day. The atonement guarantees that blessing when Jesus returns. And we know that God always keeps his promises, so you can trust him. So when a false teacher or faith healer comes and tells you, hey, just tap into that blessing, it's yours now. You could just think through some logical things. Am I in heaven yet? No, but am I guaranteed heaven if I'm a believer? Yes. Am I rich now? No. And maybe you might be wealthy, but you're not as rich as you will be in glory when the treasure of Christ is yours forever. You don't have it yet. Is there no more pain now? That's not true at all. Is there cancer? Is there crying? Is there sadness? Is there depression now? Absolutely. No amount of naming it and claiming it is gonna stop that, but you can say, absolutely, those promises are mine. It is appointed to a man once to die, the uh the author of Hebrews says. And then comes judgment. Okay, everyone's gonna die once, and then after, what's it gonna be? The blessings of the atonement or eternity in hell without Christ, because you've not been atoned for. Fifth and finally, one of the great benefits of the atonement is a perfectly glorified body. This is another logical thing I like to ask friends and faith healers who propagate a belief that if you're saved, you're guaranteed all these things now. I always like to ask, well, I'm not in my glorified body yet. I'm not in heaven yet. I don't have treasure yet in that sense. Uh I'm not there. So these are a now but not yet promise. And the glorified body is a great example. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 35 and 36, and then verse 40, and then verse 42, but some will ask, How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? You know, the church has been asking these questions for a long time. They still do. He says, You foolish person, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of heaven is of one kind, and the glory of earthly is another. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised and is imperishable. Basically, you're gonna have a glorified body one day. No need for keto and your fitness routine, no need to worry about how you're gonna fly all over the galaxies and explore God's wonders and worship with Him. The atonement guarantees a glorified body. If you're in a wheelchair right now, that means you're gonna be out of that wheelchair. If you can't hear, can't speak, can't see, anyone you know and you love who goes through that kind of pain, anyone who might be physically disabled, anybody who ever lost a limb, anybody who, because of health issues, has been feeling like they're trapped in a body that is breaking down. Well, guess what? One day you're gonna have a glorified body. His blood was not wasted, his atonement was not sort of a shot in the dark. He's not standing up in heaven right now, crossing his fingers, hoping this whole thing worked out, you know, the cross and and the tomb and all that, going, man, Father, I hope they really pick me. I hope they believe, I hope this propitiation for sin really worked. No, when Jesus paid for it, he paid for it. Eternal life, no condemnation for sin, a right relationship with God, no more pain, no more crying, no more sadness, no more death, and a perfectly glorified body, best of all, the enjoyment of heaven, the reality of Christ. That is why Spurgeon called the atonement, the miracle of miracles, because of all of the wonders it entails. I can only even just scratch the surface in a 20-something minute episode on the atonement. I hope, I hope I've helped you have a better understanding of it as a primer. But its greatest riches are to come. The doctrine of the atonement is sort of like an iceberg. Most of its mass is underneath the surface. You can't see it yet, but you will one day when your faith is made sight. I want to ask you and challenge you: do you relish in what Jesus has done? Or are you caught up in the things of this world? Has a real understanding of the atonement become a reality in your everyday life? Is your relationship with God one that is reconciled or is it separated still? Have you seen the atonement in its truest sense applied to your life? Do you have assurance of faith? As you reflect on what Jesus has done, if you're listening and you're not sure if the atonement has taken an effect in your life, or you don't even know if you have really ever believed, I would encourage you, after this podcast is done, to surrender your life to Christ, to ask Him to save you, to confess your sin, and to by faith receive the blessing of the atonement where it matters most, eternity. Lay aside all your longings for riches and for healing and for temporary pursuits and pleasures, and take Christ, who is all that we need. Thank you for joining me today as we dig into doctrines each and every week on the For the Gospel podcast. For free video teachings, go to our YouTube channel or to give and support what we're doing or to meet our team or to read articles. You can go to forthegospel.org, forthegospel.org. We'll see you on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and don't forget you can subscribe to our channel on YouTube for free gospel videos, and we drop those every single week so you can learn, grow, and share with others. We'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.