3-The Atonement, pt2

William Bridge writes of the satisfaction God the Father has in His Son's atoning work. "When the Lord Jesus Christ offered up Himself a sacrifice unto God the Father and had our sins laid upon Him, He did give more perfect satisfaction unto divine justice for our sins than if you and I and all of us had been damned in hell unto all eternity. For a creditor is more satisfied if his debt be paid him all down at once than if it be paid him by the week; a poor man that cannot pay all down will pay a groat (fourpence, 1/3 of a shilling) a week or sixpence a week, but it is more satisfaction to the creditor to have all paid at once. Should we have been all damned, we should have been but paying the debt a little, and a little, and a little; but when Christ paid it, He paid it all down to God the Father...And therefore the Lord is infinitely more satisfied by the satisfaction that Christ made upon the cross for our sins than if we had gone to hell and been damned to all eternity. Oh! What a glorious and blessed satisfaction did this our High Priest make unto God the Father!" Last time we started looking at the paradox of Christ's atonement, because not all who agree on the NECESSITY of it would agree on the INTENT, but better yet, the EXTENT of it. Is an 'every person' offer of Christ's atonement inconsistent with its limited reception? Does the sufficiency of the atonement necessarily have to equal its efficacy (ability to produce an effect? Did Jesus die to make all men savable or did He die to only save the elect? Is the atonement best described as 'limited/unlimited' OR would it be better to speak of a 'definite atonement,' a 'particular redemption,' and that which is an 'actual atonement?' Is it more essential to ask, 'For whom did Christ die?' or 'Why did Christ die?' In our previous study we suggested it is best to understand the atonement of Christ as limited in EXTENT but not in its AFFECT. Jesus did indeed pay it all, offering not a potential, but actual atonement. In other words, there will be none in hell for whom their sin's price has been paid, waiting for the sinner to activate it. In our midweek study of "The Doctrine of Salvation" we'll begin our look at "The Atonement, pt2" considering verses of particular specification of the elect and verses speaking generally of the world. That is, a textually honest approach to the paradox of the atonement which is "both/and" NOT "either/or." Join us as we meditate on His sacrifice, propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption!