The Atonement;AW Pink

All of the Three Divine persons concurred in the terms and arrangements of the Everlasting Covenant. It is the special work of the Spirit to make effectual unto the souls of God’s elect the gracious purpose of the Father and the meritorious purchase of the Son. That which Christ did for His people, the Spirit stands pledged to make good in them. The Holy Spirit has been sent here to free those captives for whose liberty Christ paid the Father the ransom-price. This the Father promised His Son on condition of His performing the work assigned Him. It needs to be steadily borne in mind that “all the promises in Him [i.e. in Christ] are yea, and in him amen” ( 2 Corinthians 1:20), and therefore that the promises made to Christ’s seed, recorded in Scripture, are but the transcripts of the promises which God first made to their Head-cf. Titus 1:2! Let such passages as Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Joel 2:18 be read in that light. “Salvation is of the Lord” ( Jonah 2:9), entirely so, from beginning to end. It is God’s “great salvation,” in its origination, in its effectuation, in its application and in its consummation. Man contributes nothing to it whatsoever.

 

Now Christ, as Mediator, obtained for Himself a right to all the elect: “All mine are thine, and thine are mine” ( John 17:10). They are His “peculiar people” ( Titus 2:14). Thus, at God’s appointed hour Christ is entitled to claim each of them for Himself. This right He exercises. “When, according to the determinate counsel of God, the time of the gracious visitation of every one of the elect is come, He actually delivers them, as His property, by an outstretched arm. And why should He not, seeing He can easily effect it by the power of the Holy Spirit, turning and inclining their heart? Is it credible that He should suffer those who are His lawful right, to be, to remain, the slaves of Satan? Shall He suffer any of those to perish whom He purchased for His own possession by His precious blood? Christ Himself has taught us thus to reason: ‘Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice’ ( John 10:16). Because these sheep were of right His property, it therefore becomes Him actually to lay hold of them as His own, and bring them into His fold” (H. Witsius). This is done by the Spirit.

 

The leading difference between the influence of His death, and that of His intercession, unto our salvation, is this: the one was the means of procuring or obtaining it for us, the other the means of securing and applying it unto us. Christ purchased salvation by the one, but we are possessed of it by the other. It was not until Christ was “perfected through suffering” that He became “the Author [or “applying cause”] of eternal salvation” ( Hebrews 5:7). The two things were united at the cross: “He bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors” ( Isaiah 53:12). That while the death of Christ procured our salvation, it did not (of itself) secure it, seems very evident from 1 Corinthians 15:17: “If Christ be not raised your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins.”

Those for whom Christ intercedes are they whose sin He bore ( Isaiah 53:12), namely, those given to Him by the Father ( John 17:9). That for which He intercedes is what He purchased for them by His Satisfaction, namely, “eternal redemption” ( Hebrews 9:12), which includes the gift of the Holy Spirit to apply unto them all the virtues of His perfect work.

 

Second , the success of Christ’s intercession is fully assured by the fact that He sues only for that which is agreeable to His Father, and therefore is the Father entirely ready to grant His requests. He pleads for nothing but what is according to the will of God: Hebrews 10:7-9.

Third , the success of Christ’s intercession is fully assured because it is a commemoration of His sacrifice. That which Christ pleads before God is His own blood, which is “precious” in His sight.

Fourth , the success of Christ’s intercession is fully assured by the fact that He is the Beloved of the Father. In Him the Father is so well pleased that He can deny Him naught that He asks. Christ Himself declared, “Thou hearest me always” ( John 11:42).

Finally, the success of Christ’s intercession is fully assured by the fact that nothing, in, of, from, or by His people can possibly countervail it. “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” ( Hebrews 7:25).

 

All of the Three Divine persons concurred in the terms and arrangements of the Everlasting Covenant. It is the special work of the Spirit to make effectual unto the souls of God’s elect the gracious purpose of the Father and the meritorious purchase of the Son. That which Christ did for His people, the Spirit stands pledged to make good in them. The Holy Spirit has been sent here to free those captives for whose liberty Christ paid the Father the ransom-price. This the Father promised His Son on condition of His performing the work assigned Him. It needs to be steadily borne in mind that “all the promises in Him [i.e. in Christ] are yea, and in him amen” ( 2 Corinthians 1:20), and therefore that the promises made to Christ’s seed, recorded in Scripture, are but the transcripts of the promises which God first made to their Head-cf. Titus 1:2! Let such passages as Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Joel 2:18 be read in that light. “Salvation is of the Lord” ( Jonah 2:9), entirely so, from beginning to end. It is God’s “great salvation,” in its origination, in its effectuation, in its application and in its consummation. Man contributes nothing to it whatsoever. All the Trinity are concerned and engaged in it. The Father is the Author of salvation from sin, Christ the Purchaser, the Spirit the Conveyor. It is the Father who begets the elect ( James 1:17,18); yet, they are declared to be the “seed” of Christ ( Isaiah 53:10), while they are “born” of the Spirit ( John 3:6). Though it has many aspects, and may be considered from various angles, nevertheless, it is one and the same salvation. It is the third aspect of it we are here contemplating, namely, the Satisfaction of Christ made efficacious by the infallible application thereof to God’s elect.

 

Now Christ, as Mediator, obtained for Himself a right to all the elect: “All mine are thine, and thine are mine” ( John 17:10). They are His “peculiar people” ( Titus 2:14). Thus, at God’s appointed hour Christ is entitled to claim each of them for Himself. This right He exercises. “When, according to the determinate counsel of God, the time of the gracious visitation of every one of the elect is come, He actually delivers them, as His property, by an outstretched arm. And why should He not, seeing He can easily effect it by the power of the Holy Spirit, turning and inclining their heart? Is it credible that He should suffer those who are His lawful right, to be, to remain, the slaves of Satan? Shall He suffer any of those to perish whom He purchased for His own possession by His precious blood? Christ Himself has taught us thus to reason: ‘Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice’ ( John 10:16). Because these sheep were of right His property, it therefore becomes Him actually to lay hold of them as His own, and bring them into His fold” (H. Witsius). This is done by the Spirit.

To sum up this point. The coming of the Spirit in regenerating power to God’s elect is both a Covenant-promise and an Atonement-purchase. The cause of the Spirit’s working is jointly from the Father and the Son. Only as this is maintained do we ascribe the glory which belongs to both by virtue of the Spirit’s operations. The Spirit works from the Father’s decree ( 2 Thessalonians 2:13), and the Son’s redemption; in other words, He is sent to effectuate what was determined upon in the Everlasting Covenant

 

Hello Allan,
Good to hear from you.Sorry i missed some time on here...was in the hospital for 4-5 days rehabing a back injury. The last time you posted was post 21......webdog jumped in when i was in hospital and asked why i stopped with you.....i responded to him and you in posts 36 and 39.
I think you mis-understood what I was asking you. So I was not sure if you took offence to what I said.....I am not here to hurt or harm anyone who are brothers in Christ.

Allan I will not avoid or deflect anything intentionally, in case you missed it in post 39 here is what my response was in part

 

After many hours of concentrated study upon it, we give it as our matured conviction that this expression covers the whole of our reconciliation, from its conception in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, till our final glorification in heaven. This expression “God was in Christ [a name of office, not of nature] reconciling” expresses the agency of the Father in the entire work of reconciliation.

First , in choosing and appointing Christ for this work: Isaiah 42:1; Romans 3:25.

Second , in the covenant and agreement with Him: Isaiah 49:3-6; Psalm 89:3,4.

Third , in calling and sending Christ into this world: John 10:36; Hebrews 5:4,5.

Fourth , in fitting Christ for this stupendous undertaking: Hebrews 10: 5; Isaiah 11:1-3; John 3:34:

Fifth , in His dealings with Christ at the Cross: Isaiah 53:4,5.

Sixth , in accepting His expiatory sacrifice: Romans 4:24; 6:4.

Seventh , in glorifying Christ: Matthew 28:18; Psalm 2:8.

E. ITS SCOPE “God was in Christ, reconciling a world unto Himself” ( 2 Corinthians 5:19).

In 2 Peter 2:5 we read of “the world of the ungodly.” Here in Corinthians 5:19 it is the world of the godly or elect (as in John 6:33) — there is no “the” in the Greek. The expression is indefinite, though not universal.

 

The Greek word for remission, “aphesis,” signifies “a sending away.” It is translated “deliverance” and “liberty” in Luke 4:18, and “forgiveness” in Acts 13:38; Ephesians 1:7, etc. Thus remission of sins means that God refuses to charge them to the account of him who truly believes in Christ. It is a deliverance from the curse of the law, which holds us fast under its death-sentence until Divine grace revokes it. It is the privative or negative side of justification, whereby the sinner who flees to Christ for refuge is delivered from every claim which Divine justice had upon him.

This is clear from Romans 4, where the apostle is expounding the truth of justification before God, and, after citing the case of Abraham, he appeals to the language of David in further proof: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (vv. 7, 8).

There are other expressions used in the New Testament of equivalent import. Thus, “When he had by himself purged our sins” ( Hebrews 1:3). The word “purged” is here used in a sacrificial way, and refers to the removal of them from before the face of the Judge: cf. Psalm 51:7 and its context. Again, in Hebrews 10:10 we read, “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” and cf. 13:12. Here, too, “sanctified” is used in a sacrificial sense. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” ( 1 John 1:7).

 

When man fell from his sinless condition he was no more able to procure for himself a righteousness which would meet the inflexible demands of God’s justice and holiness, than he could eradicate the sinful nature which now vitiates all his faculties. His only hope lay in a substitution who was able both to keep the law for him and to suffer the penalty for his breach of it. Both of these were indispensable if sinners were to be saved from hell and given a valid title to heaven. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” ( Matthew 19:17).

Life is not to be obtained unless all is done that the law requires: it must be kept either by us or a surety. “There is the same need of Christ’s obeying the law in our stead, in order to the reward, as of His suffering the penalty of the law in our stead to our escaping the penalty; and the same reason why one should be accepted on our account, as the other. This is certain, that that was the reason why there was need that Christ should suffer the penalty for us, even that the law might be answered; for this the Scripture plainly teaches. This is given as the reason why Christ was made a curse for us, that the law’s threatening a curse to us: Galatians 3:10,13. But the same law that fixes the curse of God as the consequence of not continuing in all things written in the law to do them (v. 10), has as much fixed doing those things as an antecedent of living in them (v. 12). There is as much of a connection established in one place as in the other... We have not eternal life merely on the account of being void of guilt, but on the account of Christ’s activeness in obedience and doing well” (Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 4, p. 92). “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth... For therein is the righteousness of God revealed” (Romans 1: 16, 17).

 

Actually,
I welcome any question or interaction whatsoever.I posted the link to the whole book online......in case you missed it....
http://www.godrules.net/library/pink/261pink2.htm
you say;

You are suggesting something dark here friend?// If you read through the posts,you would have seen it.
Have I posted something you think is in error? Address it....man up...no drive by posting in some cryptic fashion. The quotes are directly from the book.....pick one out and discuss it,debate it , whatever.

 

Let's look at this again.
you say this;

This is a discussion about the work of the cross,the atonement.....no guessing game here. Why is this confusing to you?

you say;

???? look at post 12....it is a complete link to the book.....so how am I holding all the cards??? it is a biblical discussion of the book!

then you say;

You are making an accuasation with no basis.This shows a lack of christian love, and this is not exactly the measure of a christian man. Thats why i say
man up. In other words.....demonstrate what you are accusing me of. Show evidence of what you are speaking against.
No one forced you to comment.You took it upon yourself to make these charges.

Next you say;
[QUOTEIt is the same thing in some churches, the teacher comes up with an obscure whatever,][/QUOTE]

An obscure whatever???? The cross is an obscure whatever?
Even if you do not understand the topic,there are good verses offered in this book to comment on,that are good for the soul,but you evidently have set yourself up as a judge and accuser of the brethren....teachers in the church, brothers here on the BB....why do you assume the worst?

To my view the only thing that reeks is your post.

 

Let us present some further proofs of this. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” ( Romans 8:2).

In verse 1 we read that believers are exempt from all condemnation because of their legal union with Christ. In verse 2 we are shown the fruit of this: the Holy Spirit makes it good to the soul in a vital way. The “law” of the Spirit refers both to His authority and power. But what we would call special attention to is that, in the economy of redemption, the authority and power of the Spirit is “of life in Christ Jesus.” In other words, the Spirit communicates to God’s elect the very life which is in the Mediator. “The gift of God is eternal life through [or “in”] Jesus Christ our Lord” ( Romans 6:23).

In Christ “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead” ( Colossians 2:9) therefore the Spirit both resides “in” and is dispensed “by” Him! “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness” ( Romans 8:10).

Because of our union with Christ, the whole body of sin (cf. 6:6; 7:24) is legally “dead.” The “spirit” here refers to that which is born of the Spirit, and that is “life,” and it is a life “because of righteousness,” namely, the righteousness of Christ. The meritorious ground on which the Spirit imparts “life” to us is the Satisfaction of Christ. I live because Christ died and rose again for me. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; That being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” ( Titus 3:5-7).

 

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