THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST
Romans 8:31-33 What, then,
shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He
who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not
also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge
against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
It is frequently objected that this doctrine is
inconsistent with the full and free offer of Christ in the Gospel. This is a
grave misunderstanding and misrepresentation. The truth really is that it is only
on the basis of such a doctrine that we can have a free and full offer of
Christ to lost men. What is offered to men in the gospel? It is not the
possibility of salvation, not simply the opportunity of salvation. What is
offered is salvation. To be more specific, it is Christ himself in all the
glory of his person and in all the perfection of his finished work who is
offered. And he is offered as the one who made expiation for sin and wrought
redemption. But he could not be offered in this capacity or character if he had
not secured salvation and accomplished redemption. He could not be offered as
Saviour and as the one who embodies in himself salvation full and free if he
had simply made the salvation of all men possible or merely had made provision
for the salvation of all. It is the very doctrine that Christ procured and
secured redemption that invests the free offer of the gospel with richness and
power. It is that doctrine alone that allows for a presentation of Christ that
will be worthy of the glory of his accomplishment and of his person. It is
because Christ procured and secured redemption that he is an all-sufficient and
suitable Saviour. It is as such he is offered, and the faith that this offer
demands is the faith of self-commitment to him as the one who is the eternal
embodiment of the efficacy accruing from obedience completed and redemption
secured.
Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray, pg. 65.
