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The author makes many assertions, but doesn't quote a single word of the Bible. Not one. Not even a Bible reference. What he does do is regurgitate a particular Reformist doctrine, Penal Substitutionary Atonement. And he does so fluidly. It spills from him like second nature. But absent scriptural proof, it is only so much effluent.
The author makes many assertions, but doesn't quote a single word of the Bible. Not one. Not even a Bible reference. What he does do is regurgitate a particular Reformist doctrine, Penal Substitutionary Atonement. And he does so fluidly. It spills from him like second nature. But absent scriptural proof, it is only so much effluent.
We have written extensively about this doctrine, and have found it to be completely false. We encourage the reader to see for himself.
So this fellow intends to tell us what to believe. But a person who represents himself as a Bible teacher but doesn't use the Bible is a false teacher.
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Have you ever read the descriptions of Old Testament sacrifices and found them very odd? After all, most of us don’t have much experience of sacrifices, never having even seen one. They seem like some kind of relic of an ancient past completely disconnected from our present-day world. In fact, they seem barbaric and bloody to our modern experience disconnected from farming and where death is kept at arm’s length from us.
It is right to feel the barbarity of the sacrifices. (Why is it right to think that the sacrifices God Himself installed are barbaric? Does the author think God is barbaric?)
Have you ever read the descriptions of Old Testament sacrifices and found them very odd? After all, most of us don’t have much experience of sacrifices, never having even seen one. They seem like some kind of relic of an ancient past completely disconnected from our present-day world. In fact, they seem barbaric and bloody to our modern experience disconnected from farming and where death is kept at arm’s length from us.
It is right to feel the barbarity of the sacrifices. (Why is it right to think that the sacrifices God Himself installed are barbaric? Does the author think God is barbaric?)
Don’t ignore them or turn away; here we see a great illustration of what Jesus came to do.
Think about it. When someone came to bring a sacrifice, they brought an animal to the priest at the temple. The priest then killed the animal in front of them. This animal was a substitute for the person bringing it for sacrifice. (There is no Bible verse that tells us a sacrificial animal was a substitute. In fact, these sacrifices were not substitutionary, they were atoning. It is necessary for there to be shed blood for forgiveness:
Think about it. When someone came to bring a sacrifice, they brought an animal to the priest at the temple. The priest then killed the animal in front of them. This animal was a substitute for the person bringing it for sacrifice. (There is no Bible verse that tells us a sacrificial animal was a substitute. In fact, these sacrifices were not substitutionary, they were atoning. It is necessary for there to be shed blood for forgiveness:
He. 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
The shed blood atoned [covered over] Israel's sin so that it can be forgiven [not held against]. But the OT atoning blood doesn't take away sins:
He. 10:3-4 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Only Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, completely solved our sin problem. He bore our sins:
He. 9:28 ...so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
"Bear" is anapheró, to lift up on oneself, to take upon oneself, i. e. to place on oneself anything as a load to be upborn...]. His sacrifice carried our sins away, He lifted them like He was taking out the garbage; it was the total and complete removal. Therefore, Jesus' sacrifice is better than atonement.)
As the offeror watched their precious animal killed and burnt, they were supposed to think, “that is what I deserved, but for the grace of God the animal received it instead of me”. (An undocumented claim. And a pretty substantial one. There's apparently some instruction for the Hebrew worshiper that he was supposed to regard the sacrifice as substitutionary?
Where does the Bible say this?
We would vehemently disagree. There is nothing substitutionary about the animal sacrifices. As mentioned, they were atoning, not substitutionary. Similarly, Jesus' death was not substitutionary. His death was propitiatory:
1 Jn. 2:2 ...and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
The word is hilasmos, which means, Christ's atoning blood that appeases God's wrath, on all confessed sin.)
God prescribed the sacrificial system to show His people the seriousness of their sin and what it took to pay for it. (Sin does not get paid for, it gets either atoned for or propitiated. There is no verse in the Bible that tells us that sin is being paid for by Jesus.
Rather, the Bible tells us that we were paid for:
1Co. 6:20 ...you were bought at a price.Jesus ransomed us from the grave so that we would be His possession, His people. He didn't pay for our sins, he paid for us.)
That helps us a great deal when it comes to understanding Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us. Just like with the Old Testament animal sacrifices, Jesus’ sacrifice was costly, substitutionary, and an atonement for our sins. This sacrifice cost the price of the life of God himself. This sacrifice was done in our place, for Jesus died for the sins of all who believe. And this sacrifice was an atonement for sins, sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole world. (Here we have a statement containing all the elements of Penal Substitutionary Atonement. None of these elements are true. He did not die in our place, He died as the sacrificial lamb of God. He was not punished by the Father, He perfectly pleased the Father. He did not atone for sin, He propitiated.)
We should never flippantly get used to the fact that Jesus died for our sins. Sacrifice was a serious matter, and the sacrifice of the Son of God even more so. As we reflect on this, we should be amazed once more at the grace of God. God provided a way for us to be saved when we could not be saved. (The author finally waxes eloquent, accurately relating to us the truth of the Gospel...)
All we can do is watch in wonder and think, “that is what I deserved, but for the grace of God Jesus received it instead of me”. (...until this sentence. There is nothing in the Bible that tells us the Father punished Jesus. There is nothing in the Bible where God says we deserve punishment. Nor is there anything in the Bible that tells us we do not deserve salvation.
"Deserve" is the focus of our claims. God is just in punishing sin and saving the sinner. Sin is grievous to God, for which blood must be spilled. But we cannot insert the word "deserve" when the Bible does not do this. We might think that someone deserves something, whether good or bad, but this is not a biblical concept regarding God's justice.
In fact, neither deservedness nor undeservedness are even elements regarded by God in salvation or in His execution of divine punishment. Consider this carefully, dear reader. Go ahead and check the Scriptures. These things are simply not part of the equation. You will not find anything about deserving or not deserving regarding the processes of God, like mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
"Deserve" axios, to weigh in, assigning the matching value ["worth-to-worth"]; worthy, i.e. as the assessment in keeping with how something "weighs in" on God's balance-scale of truth. This word is never used regarding God judging people. Check it for yourself.
The problem is, we look at certain Scriptures and derive ideas from them about how we should think and act. For example:
Lk. 18:13 But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
This verse does not tell us about our status before God. In fact, Jesus tells us in the next verse it's about being humble. Too often we look at verses like these and presume they prescribe to us how we should be or what we should think about ourselves. We want to insert ourselves into Scriptures like these when we don't belong there.
These entrenched ideas we all presume to be true are too often misrepresentations, misunderstanding, or even falsehoods. We need to renew our minds and rethink what we've been taught.)
That is incredible, and something we should never get used to or take for granted.
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