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VI. The Purpose and Extent of the Atonement
A. THE PURPOSE OF THE ATONEMENT.
The atonement was destined to affect the relation of God to the sinner, the state and condition
of Christ as the Mediatorial author of salvation, and the state and condition of the sinner.
1. ITS EFFECT WITH REFERENCE TO GOD.
It should be emphasized first of all that the
atonement effected no change in the inner being of God, which is unchangeable. The only
change that was brought about was a change in the relation of God to the objects of His
atoning love. He was reconciled to those who were the objects of His judicial wrath. This means
that His wrath was warded off by the sacrificial covering of their sin. The atonement should not
be represented as the moving cause of the love of God, for it was already an expression of His
love. It is often represented as if, on the satisfaction theory, God could not love the sinner until
His just demands were met. But then the fact is overlooked that Christ is already the gift of
God’s love, John 3:16. At the same time it is perfectly true that the atonement did remove
obstacles to the manifestation of God’s redeeming love in the pardoning of sinners and in their
sanctification, by satisfying the justice of God and the demands of the law, both in its federal
and penal aspects.
2. ITS EFFECT WITH RESPECT TO CHRIST.
The atonement secured a manifold reward for Christ
as Mediator. He was constituted the life-giving Spirit, the inexhaustible source of all the
blessings of salvation for sinners. He received:
a. All that belonged to His glorification, including His present Messianic glory. Hence He prayed,
when in His high priestly prayer He by anticipation already thought of His work as completed,
“And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was,” John 17:5.
b. The fulness of those gifts and graces which He imparts to His people. Thus we read in Ps.
68:18: “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts for
men; yea for the rebellious also, that the Lord might dwell among them.” Paul applies this to
Christ in Eph. 4:8.
c. The gift of the Holy Spirit for the formation of His mystical body and the subjective
application of the fruits of His atoning work. This is evident from the words of Peter on the day
of Pentecost: “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear,” Acts
2:33.