Death Is the Penalty

I’ve been reading From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective, a book the publisher’s blurb calls “the first comprehensive resource on definite atonement.” It’s certainly the most reading I’ve done specifically on the doctrine of definite atonement. 

Here’s a quote from Carl Trueman’s chapter, Atonement and the Covenant of Redemption: John Owen on the Nature of Christ’s Satisfaction, on a point we all need to be reminded of once in a while, because it’s easy to slip back into thinking (wrongly!) of the payment made on our behalf as a kind of commercial transaction—a bit of suffering for each sin, (you know, so much for me, so much for you, on and on, with more for each sinner forgiven, printed out on something like a million mile long till tape) all added together into a “heap of suffering” required to mark “paid in full” on the invoice. 

[I]n Of the Death of Christ, [John] Owen makes the point that the penalty required for sin was death. This is an important point: there is a danger when thinking of Christ’s atonement in terms of satisfaction for debt that one can be led astray into thinking in crudely quantitative terms: sin has accumulated x amount of debt; so the penalty is to be paid in terms of x, where x is analogous to money or property. That is not the model with which Owen is operating: the penalty is not quantitative in such a way; rather, it is perhaps better described as qualitative. It is not that Christ has to pile up a heap of suffering to match the offense human beings have given to God; it is that he has to die. Death is the penalty.  … Jesus Christ dies and thus pays precisely the same penalty that is required of a sinner (p. 211).

I’m almost halfway through this book. While it takes a little work to read, it is more accessible than I expected. If you’re interested in the doctrine of definite atonement, consider putting it on your reading list.

Status Report: December

Sitting…on the couch.

Drinking…nothing. It’s too late for caffeinated and I don’t do decaffienated. On principle.

Complaining…about the weather. It’s cold. It’s been cold for as long as I can remember; it’ll be cold for the foreseeable future, says the weatherman, and by “foreseeable future” he meant all of December. “And as is December”—I’m quoting—“so goes the rest of the winter.” Brrrr and grrrr.

Realizing…that complaining about the weather can be a sanity saver. 

Remembering…yesterday. I had an unplanned full house and an impromptu potluck supper. The grandbabies brought their families over for a change of scenery on a cold afternoon and evening. It was busy and noisy and lots of fun. At least cold weather is good for something.

Reading…Family Vocation by Gene Veith, and A Puritan Theology by Joel Beeke and Mark Jones. I’m not far enough into A Puritan Theology to know what I think, but I really like Family Vocation. Thinking of our God-given roles in life as his means of providing for his creation, and of my own roles as ways to serve my neighbors gives me new motivation to do my work. 

Anticipating…so much. The excitement of the season to come: the ways to serve, fun to have, food to eat, and gifts to give. Plua, a new grandchild coming in February. I’m expecting many blessing to come.

Rearranging…two rooms of the house to make space for the Christmas tree. 

Making…new covers for the throw pillows on the couches from plaid wool kilts I got at the Salvation Army thrift store several years ago. I also brought out the single sized Hudson Bay Blanket for one couch. It all looks pleasantly cabin-like.

Liking…candles lit every evening.

Thanking…God for his protecting hand and for his restraining grace. 

Copying…Staci.

The Cross of Christ: Loving Our Enemies

This week’s reading from John Stott’s The Cross of Christ for Reading Classics Together at Challies.com is Chapter 12, Loving Our Enemies. This is a chapter I wouldn’t have anticipated in a book about the cross of Christ. I understand that it’s there in order to work out what it is to show in our relationships the same “combination of love and justice” as there is in the work of Christ on the cross, but it still felt out of place.

Christians, says Stott, are called to be peacemakers, and yet the kind of peace we make must be modeled on the peace of God. It may cost us to make peace; we may need to confess our fault in the dispute. At the same time, we cannot forgive when there is no repentance for real wrongs done.  

The Christian Home
 Christian parents will model their love for their children on God’s love, meaning they will seek the best for them, even at great cost. They will also model their discipline after God’s own discipline of his children.

The Church
Love and discipline should characterize the church family, too.

[T]he New Testament gives clear instruction about discipline, on the one hand its necessity for the sake of the church’s holiness, and on the other hand its constructive purpose, namely, if possible, to “win over” and “restore” the offending member. …[A]ll disciplinary action was to exhibit the love and justice of the cross.

The State
Stott bases what he says about the administration of justice by the state on Romans 12 and 13. The Christian attitude toward evil should be:

• Evil is to be hated.
• Evil is not to be repaid.
• Evil is to be overcome. By this, Stott refers to these words of Paul: “Bless those who persecute you” and “if your enemy is hungry, feed him.”
• Evil is to be punished. The first three on this list are the responses the individual Christian should make toward evil. This last one is to be carried out only by the state. The law enforcement officer, working for the state, is “God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” 

 The origin of the states authority to punish evil is God, and the purpose of this authority it to reward good and punish evil. Stott goes on to say that this authority must be used in a way that is controlled and discriminate. Citizens must submit to the authority of the state.

To sum up this section:

Because its authority has been delegated to it by God, we must respect but not worship it. Because the purpose of its authority is to punish evil and promote goodness, it has no excuse for arbitrary government. To fulfill this purpose it may use coercion, but only minimum necessary force, not indiscriminate violence. We are to respect the state and its officials, giving them a discerning submission, not an uncritical subservience.

Next up is chapter 13, Suffering and Glory.