Consequent Absolute Necessity

Redemption Accomplished and Applied

Notes, Chapter One (con't.)

 

Why did Christ have to die?  Why was it necessary?

 

We looked briefly at one common answer to this nearly universal question, the Hypothetical Necessity.  Today we'll look at the most commonly held view, the classical Protestant view of Consequent Absolute Necessity.

 

In a nutshell, this view begins with the understanding that God didn't have to save anyone; it was entirely according to the good pleasure of His Will that He purposed to save a people for Himself:

 

Ephesians 1:5-7  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

 

In other words, the saving of fallen man was not of absolute necessity in and of itself, however, once decreed, it followed that sin must, by necessity, be atoned for--absolutely.  Because God purposed to save us, it became necessary "to secure this salvation through a satisfaction that could be rendered only through substitutionary sacrifice and blood-bought redemption."

 

Murray lays out six reasons that a substitutionary sacrifice is absolutely necessary and he reminds us that all these Scriptural references must be taken "together and cumulatively."

 

1. Christ, our suffering Captain:

 

Hebrews 2:10-17  For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:

    “ I will declare Your name to My brethren;
      In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
13 And again:
    “ I will put My trust in Him.”

And again:
    “ Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

 

14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

 

In order for us to be "accepted in the beloved as adopted children, we needed a "suffering Captain."  Ephesians 1 tells us that that Captain is Christ Himself.

 

2. Eternal Life or Eternal Perdition?

 John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotton Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. 

 

Murray explains that the positive reading of this verse tells us that those who believe in the One He has given will have everlasting life.  From this statement we can deduce it's corollary; the negative reading of the verse:  Those who do not believe will perish eternally.  John 3:16 also speaks to the uniqueness of Christ as the absolute answer; there is no other alternative.

 

3. "The efficacy of Christ's work is contingent upon the unique constitution of Christ's person."  So serious is our sin, so utterly does it separate us that only the "perfect, final, transcendant efficacy" of Christ's sacrifice can atone for it:

 

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 

 

Hebrews 2:9-18  9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
  
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:

“ I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
13 And again:
    “ I will put My trust in Him.”
And again:
    “ Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. 

 

Hebrews 9:9-14  9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— 10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
   
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

Hebrews 9:22-28  22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

 

We usually think of the Levitical sacrifices as being the forerunner to the sacrifice of Christ, however, as the verses above explain, they themselves were copies of things in the heavens where the blood of Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.

 

This application of the blood of Christ in the heavenlies was of absolute necessity because:

 

a) sin is an absolute reality

b) only a person with flesh and blood can bleed and die and only "the effulgence of the Fathger's glory and the express image of  His substance"--pure, righteous, and holy--could secure forgiveness of sin.

 

4.  Not only does the atonement secure remission of sin--because of Christ's perfect righteousness and obedience it secures our justification as well.  It is not only forgiveness we require; we need righteousness and only the perfect, obedient righteousness of Christ is the remedy for our condition.

 Galatians 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

 

5.  The infinite, supreme sacrifice of Christ demonstrates the love of God.

 

 Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

1 John 4:10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

Romans 8:32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

 

And finally, 6. Not only does Christ's sacrifice secure remission of sin and justification, it vidicates the demands of justice: 

Romans 3:21-26  But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 

". . .in the work of Christ the dictates of holiness and the demands of justice have been fully vindicated.

 

Murray concludes Chapter One with this thought:

 

"The more we emphasize the inflexible demands of justice and holiness the more marvelous become the love of God and its provisions."

 

UPDATE:  Pam of "a rustling of leaves" is blogging her way through Redemption Accomplished and Applied, too.  Here is a link to her reflections on Chapter One.

Comments

[lisa writes]

I just read something similar in CJ Mahaney's "The Cross Centered Life": Only those who are aware of God's wrath are amazed at God's grace.

Good stuff, Kim!

[Kim from Hiraeth]

Thanks, Lisa.

Yes, it's good stuff, but it's Murray's stuff, not mine! I'm just sharing my notes. . .

; )

[Kim]

This is really a great post! I loved reading it and it is very true!

The depth and greatness of God's love is hard to fathom and it just gets richer in my life as I grow and learn.

Thank you!

Kim