Part Two

John G. Reisinger

In our first article we showed the difference between a belief in a universal and a particular atonement. A universal atonement is really only a 'hypothetical' atonement that does not actually atone or redeem anyone. We then started to give three essential facts about the atoning work of Christ on the cross. The cross work of Christ was (1) Voluntary, (2) Vicarious, and (3) Victorious. We covered the voluntary aspect of Christ's death and concluded that since the work of Christ was totally voluntary then God had every right to do as He chooses with the benefits of that work. In this second article we will look at the second 'V' and see that the atonement of Christ was vicarious.

TWO: Christ's death was also vicarious. The word vicarious means "acting on behalf of or as representing another," or "something performed or suffered by one person with the results accruing to the benefit or advantage of another." The key idea is representation in such a way that one party literally stands in the place of another and is actually treated as if they were the other person. The classic text is 2 Corinthians 5:21:

For He [The Father] made [treated Him as if He were a sinner] Him [the Son] who knew no sin to be sin [treated Him as our substitute] for us [guilty sinners], that we might become the righteousness of God [be treated as if we are as righteous as Christ] in Him.

If Christ actually stood in my place and bore my sin then I can never be punished for that sin. If Christ literally stands as a substitute in the place of any particular individual then that individual must be brought to salvation and be eternally saved. Substitutionary, or vicarious, atonement must actually secure a real salvation for all for whom Christ died or else it is not truly vicarious. If Christ acted as a real and true substitute for His people, then all of His people will be saved. If He actually collected the wages (death) which they earned, by their sin, the all for whom He died will, yea must, collect the wages (righteousness) that He earned in His obedient life and death.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23).

To say that Christ died a vicarious death in the place of all sinners but not all of those sinners will be saved is a contradiction in terms.

There are four primary words used in the NT Scriptures that show the true vicarious nature of the sufferings of Christ. When these four shades of meaning are put together, we see clearly that Christ's atonement was totally effectual in the salvation of all for whom that atonement was made. The biblical meaning of these four words, ransom, substitute, reconciliation, and propitiation must be bled of their true meaning before it is possible to believe in universal atonement. Let us examine these four words.

The first word is ransom or redeem. The Greek word is Lutron (loo-tron) and means "something to loose with." This word describes a person who is all "tied up in debt" and needs cash to get "free." The cash is the ransom price that sets him free. It redeems him from the bondage of debt. Once the cash is paid the debtor is set free. The same idea is set forth in our spiritual redemption. We were in the market place of sin because we had "sold ourselves under sin." Christ shed His blood as the ransom price to "set us free." The key truth in the word redeem is that freedom must follow the price being paid or there is no real ransom. When our Lord went into the market place of sin and paid the ransom price in His own blood to buy the freedom of sinners, He did not come out of the market place with His basket half-empty. He did not leave behind any for whom He had paid the ransom price. Christ did not pay the price and purchase sinners and then leave some of those sinners still in the market place of sin. "the Son of man came… to give his life a ransom for many" (Matt 20:28). The "many" that our Lord gave His life as a ransom for are the elect. All that He redeemed will be saved. "…ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,…but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Pet 1:18, 19). The blood of Christ did not make us merely redeemable but it actually redeemed us.

Once again we see how clearly universal atonement teaches that Christ's death merely made it possible for us to be redeemed, but our faith is the decisive factor that enables God to actually redeem us. In the end that means we redeem ourselves by our faith.

One of the key ideas in the word redeem is the idea of setting someone, or something, "free by buying it back with a redemption price." It is like a pawnshop where you buy back something you lost or pawned. In Scripture, we are bought out of the market place of sin by the redemption price of Christ's blood. There are four different Greek words that, when put together, give us a good picture of redemption. All four Greek words are translated "redeem" or "redemption" in our English Bibles. However, they are also sometimes translated with other English words.

1. The first word is found in Romans 3:24. It is apolutwsis (apolutron) and means "delivering." The same Greek word, given in italics, is used in the following verses: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace…" (Eph. 1:7). Hebrews 11:35 translates the same word differently. "Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance…" These women could have been "redeemed," or delivered, but they were not willing to pay the redemption price which was to deny their faith in Christ. They choose death over redemption.

The root from which this word comes is lutron (Lutron) and is used as follows: "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel…" (Luke 24:21). "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:…" (1 Pet. 1:18,19). This word means we are delivered from the wrath of God because we have been loosed from our sins and the punishment those sins deserve. The blood of Christ is always the ransom price that is paid to deliver, or redeem us. This is why the child of God can never "come into judgment." (See John 5:24).

2. The second Greek word is agorazw (agoradzo) and it means to "go to market" or "buy." Here are some texts that use this word. "Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread" (Mark 6:36). "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body…" (1 Cor. 6:20). "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev. 5:9).

It is easy to see that the particular emphasis is going to the market and buying something by paying a price. When applied to the gospel it means that Christ went into the market place of sin, where we were slaves of sin, and He purchased our freedom with His own precious blood.

In Paul's day over fifty percent of the population of Rome was slaves. The largest markets by far were the slave markets. Men and women were stripped and examined the way horses and cows are examined at an auction and then sold and purchased by the highest bidder. Paul's readers would have clearly understood his meaning and use of this word. They would have realized that our Lord did not leave the market with His basket half full. He did not leave behind, still in their shackles, some for whom He had paid the ransom price.

The word redemption is one of the first words changed in any translation or paraphrase of the Scriptures. The Good News for Modern Man totally eliminates the words redeem and redemption from the New Testament. They also eliminate, as much as is possible, the word blood. They change redeem to "set free" and change blood to "His death." When Peter says we were "redeemed by His blood," it comes out "set free by His death."

Now I'm sure some are thinking, "But John, isn't that exactly what you have been telling us that the word means." It is true that redeem means to set free and to shed blood is to take life. However, there is one important ingredient missing in the meaning of each word when redemption becomes only "set free" and blood becomes only "His death." If I went down to the local jail and put sleeping powder into the jailer's coffee, I could, after he fell asleep, steal his keys and "set every prisoner free," but I surely have not "redeemed" them. This word means more than just to set free. It is setting free by paying a necessary ransom price. It is the blood offered to God as proof that a life had been laid in sacrifice on the altar that the liberal hates so vehemently. It is not just 'His death' that is vital, it is the kind of death that He died. Christ died under the just wrath of God as a substitute for guilty sinners. It was a vicarious death offered to God as a necessary price to appease His just wrath. This is Paul's whole argument in Galatians 3:13, 14.

We saw in our last article that the meaning of this word is also changed by evangelists. They speak of Christ "redeeming sinners" when they really mean that Christ made it possible for us to redeem ourselves through faith. If they were honest they would say, "Christ has made your redemption a possibility but not a certainty. Only you can finish the job with your faith." We covered this in our last issue.

3. The third Greek word is a very interesting word. It is periousios (per ee os see os) and means "to acquire, by purchase, something that is very special and valuable to you." The idea is to both buy and preserve something you dearly love. The word is translated in our English Bibles with the word peculiar.

We are losing the meanings of words in our society. I personally refuse to use the word gay to describe a homosexual. I have counseled many homosexuals in my ministry and have never yet met one that was 'gay' or truly happy. There is no group of people who need the love and affection and attempts by Christians to give them the gospel as much as the homosexual community. They hate themselves, they hate God, and they hate everyone else. They desperately need the gospel of sovereign love and grace.

Today the word peculiar means "odd" but originally it meant something entirely different. When I am teaching about this word I will often say to a lady, "Suppose your husband publicly said, 'My wife is the most peculiar women I have ever met.' How would you feel?" The lady usually says, "I would bop him on the head." I then add confusion by saying, "This word peculiar originally meant 'cows.'" Now the lady is ready to bop me on the head.

The word peculiar comes from the word pecus and literally means "cows." You have this word in the deed to your house. Your deed says you bought the house for the "pecuniary value of $150,000.00." The word "pecuniary" (pecus) means the real value as measured in dollars. Originally the pecuniary value of things was measured in terms of cows. The more cows, the more pecus value. If the husband who said his wife was the most peculiar women in the world was using the word in the biblical sense then he was saying, "My wife is the most precious possession that I have."

Christians are indeed the most peculiar things in all of the universe. They have been purchased at the greatest price possible. God Himself has purchased them to be His own personal possession. We can now see the true meaning of Titus 2:14: "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

4. The fourth word is the same as the second word except it has an ek in front of it. The word ek means "out of" or exit. The word is used in the following passages: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree…" (Gal. 3:13). "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Gal. 4:5).

This word does not just mean purchased at the market, but purchased out of the market. When you sell a house you put it on the market. If it does not sell in a given period you take it off the market for a while and then you may later put it back on the market. That little word ek means that we have been purchased in such a way that we can never again go back into the market place of sin. We are purchased out of the market forever. The two texts in Galatians mentioned above means that believers are forever out from under the law and its just curse. The law cannot condemn us. We have been purchased and forever put out of its reach.

I remember reading that a Van Gogh painting had been put up for auction and the highest bid was nine million dollars. The owner refused to sell since he had paid over eleven million for the painting. He waited a year and then put it back on the market. Sometimes a painting is either purchased by, or given to, the National Museum of Art. When this is done that particular painting can never again be put up for auction and sold. It is the 'peculiar possession' of our national museum to be enjoyed by the entire populace. Believers have been purchased by God and placed in His museum of grace. We can never again be put on the auction block in the market place of sin. The Church will reveal the power and beauty of His grace throughout all eternity. Paul says that believers are "His workmanship." We are living testimonies to the power of His love and grace.

Just as an artist takes a piece of blank canvas and uses various colors of paint to produce a masterpiece or 'work of art,' so God has taken pieces of useless junk that were ruined by sin and creates a spiritual work of art that will shine throughout eternity.

Often we read a verse and never stop to really look at what it is saying. For many years I read Romans 8:18 without seeing what it was really saying. Paul is not talking about the amazing glory that shall be revealed to us in eternity. That of course is true but is not his point in this text. Believers themselves are the glory of God! The text says "the glory that shall be revealed in us" not to us. Just as men and women walk through an art gallery and admire the amazing work of great artists, so the whole universe will admire the wisdom and power of God's grace as it is displayed in His people. What a tremendous thought! We should be living epistles now even as we shall be revealers of His glory in eternity.

A classic illustration of the truth of redemption is found in Hosea 3:1-3.

(1) Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. (2) So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: (3) And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.

Hosea's wife, Gomer, was unfaithful to him. It is quite possible that his two sons were not really his own sons but had been fathered by a different man. Gomer leaves Hosea and openly practices prostitution. She is finally reduced to slavery and is on the auction block to be sold to the highest bidder. God tells Hosea to buy back his own former betrothed wife. Hosea is to love her, "as I have loved Israel." She is a picture of Israel's (and our) nakedness, sin, and unfaithfulness.

Gomer does not come back to Hosea as a slave, as she actually deserved, but as a wife who is dearly beloved. She does not come back to be hated and punished but to be "loved as I have loved Israel." That is grace.

I once heard of a preacher whose wife had become an alcoholic. She was a real embarrassment to him. One Sunday morning after his sermon the preacher was shaking hands with his congregation at the door. A taxicab pulled up and a drunken woman got out and lurched across the pavement. Just as she reached the place where the preacher was standing, she started to fall and the preacher reached out and caught her in his arms. Everyone waited to see what the preacher would do or say. While everyone was watching, he drew his wife to his chest and kissed her on her lips. She was his wife and he loved her.

That is exactly what God has done many times with every one of us. We have played the harlot and given our affections to false gods. We have been drunk with the allurements of the world. How many times could God have justly divorced us and said, "I am sick of your sin and rebellion? I am tired of your halfhearted love. I am done with you forever." Do not our hearts cry out, "Many times, times many." But our God will never divorce His people that He choose in Christ and bought with the blood of His Son. He graciously brings us back to Himself and opens the well springs of our hearts and we weep in confession of our sin and with faith believe in the sure hope of His grace.

Bible translation is a very difficult job. Especially in a culture that has no written language and a very limited vocabulary. I remember reading about a missionary in Africa trying to translate the word redemption into a particular tribal language. No one could understand what he was trying to teach.. He tried every way possible to explain the concept but got nowhere. Finally the oldest man in the tribe said, "You mean that Jesus died to take our necks out." The missionary asked what the man meant. The old man remembered the days of slave trading when men were literally caught and shackled with a steel ring around their necks and then tied with a chain to other men likewise shackled. As these helpless captives were being marched off to the ship to be taken to England and America to be sold as slaves, a village chief might see one of his people in the line. If he chose to do so, he could trade with the slave trader and give him some ivory for the slave's release. The slave trader would then unlock the chain ring around the poor man's neck and set him free. He would "take his neck out of the ring."

That is exactly what our Lord did for us. He took our necks out of the chain of sin. However, the chains that held us were stronger than any steel and could not be broken with any human means. It took nothing less than the blood atonement of the Lamb of God to break the shackles that held us. The Bible in that particular tribe stills says "Jesus died to take our necks out," and everyone knows what it means. I am sure no one could imagine the village chief paying the price for a slave and watching that slave nonetheless go on in his chains into slavery.

In the next issue we will look at the other three words—substitute, reconciliation, and propitiation—that round out the biblical view of the atoning work of Christ.

Copyright 2004 John G. Reisinger