BC 5.6

5.6. The Atonement

We believe that Jesus Christ is a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek- made such by an oath- and that he presented himself in our name before his Father, to appease his Father's wrath with full satisfaction by offering himself on the tree of the cross and pouring out his precious blood for the cleansing of our sins, as the prophets had predicted. For it is written that "the punishment that made us whole" was placed on the Son of God and that "by his bruises we are healed." He was "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter"; he was "numbered with the transgressors" (Isa. 53:4-12) and condemned as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, though Pilate had declared that he was innocent. So he paid back what he had not stolen, (Ps. 69:4) and he suffered- "the righteous for the unrighteous," (1 Pet. 3:18) in both his body and his soul- in such a way that when he sensed the horrible punishment required by our sins "his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground." (Luke 22:44) He cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46) And he endured all this for the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore we rightly say with Paul that we know nothing "except Jesus Christ, and him crucified"; (1 Cor. 2:2) we "regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus [our] Lord." (Phil. 3:8) We find all comforts in his wounds and have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, once made, which renders believers perfect forever. This is also why the angel of God called him Jesus- that is, "Savior"- because he would save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21)

Proof texts

• Ps. 110:4 — [4] The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
• Heb. 7:15-17 — [15] This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, [16] who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. [17] For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
• Rom. 4:25 — [25] who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
• Rom. 5:8-9 — [8] but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [9] Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
• Rom. 8:32 — [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
• Gal. 3:13 — [13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” —
• Col. 2:14 — [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
• Heb. 2:9, 17 — [9] But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. [17] Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
• Heb. 9:11-15 — [11] But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) [12] he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. [13] For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, [14] how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. [15] Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
• Acts 2:23 — [23] this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
• Phil. 2:8 — [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
• 1 Tim. 1:15 — [15] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
• Heb. 9:22 — [22] Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
• 1 Pet. 1:18-19 — [18] knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
• 1 John 1:7 — [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
• Rev. 7:14 — [14] I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
• Luke 24:25-27 — [25] And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” [27] And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
• Rom. 3:21 — [21] But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it —
• 1 Cor. 15:3 — [3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
• Isa. 53:5, 7, 12 — [5] But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. [7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. [12] Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
• 1 Pet. 2:24 — [24] He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
• John 18:38 — [38] Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
• 1 Pet. 3:18 — [18] For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
• Ps. 69:4 — [4] More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?
• Luke 22:44 — [44] And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
• Matt. 27:46 — [46] And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
• 1 Cor. 2:2 — [2] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
• Phil. 3:8 — [8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
• Heb. 10:14 — [14] For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
• Matt. 1:21 — [21] She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
• Luke 1:31 — [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
• Acts 4:12 — [12] And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
• Heb. 7:26-28 — [26] For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. [27] He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. [28] For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
• Heb. 9:24-28 — [24] For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. [25] Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, [26] for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. [27] And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, [28] so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Ps. 110:4 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 34 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. HC Q29 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. HC Q37 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

HC Q29 · HC Q37 · CD 2.1