I completely forgot to mention that I was doing a series on the atonement for the Thinking to Believe podcast. It is a four part series. The final episode just went live.

The series seeks to explain the meaning of Jesus’ death and how it stands at the center of the Christian faith. Episode 1 explores the nature of Jesus’ mission, the OT sacrificial system as a means of atonement, and the necessity of the incarnation for God to fully and finally satisfy both His desire for justice and His desire for mercy.

Episode 2 plumbs the depths of Isaiah 53 to show how it predicted the various facets of Jesus’ work on the cross: unjust penalty, substitution, representation, and justification. In the process, I address the notion that healing is provided for in the atonement. Then, I deal with the Jewish interpretation that the Servant of Isaiah 53 is the nation of Israel rather than the Messiah. I conclude by arguing that the NT authors understood Jesus’ death primarily in terms of sacrifice.

Episode 3 focuses on the benefits/results of the atonement: cleansing from sin, the satisfaction of God’s wrath, a new covenant, redemption/ransom, and justification/reconciliation.

Episode 4 rounds out the discussion by exploring how the benefits of Jesus’ death accrue to us, namely via substitution and representation. As our substitute, Jesus died instead of us. As our representative, Jesus died as us. What He experienced we also experience through our union with Him. I also show how the resurrection of Jesus is connected to the atonement. If Jesus had not been raised, sins would not be fully atoned for. I round out the discussion by talking about some important implications of the doctrine of atonement, and address a few objections.

Give it a listen wherever you get your podcasts from, or at https://thinkingtobelieve.buzzsprout.com.