REFORMED WITNESS
Volume XV, April 2009, Number 4
Doctrine According To Godliness
A Primer of Reformed Doctrine
Excerpts from pages 154 to 160 of the book by the same title
Published by the Reformed Free Publishing AssociationBy Rev. Ronald Hanko
Christ's Death on the Cross
The third step in Christ's state of humiliation is his death. The death of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of his blood is the central event of history and the heart of the gospel. Paul indicates this in I Corinthians 2:2, when he says, "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified", and in Galatians 6:14, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The cross was many things. It was the judgment of this world. Jesus himself says that in John 12:31, and the darkness, the earthquake and the rending of the temple veil show it. The judgment of God revealed at the cross was so evident that those who were there went home beating their breasts (Luke 23:48).
The cross also continues to be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to those who do not believe. At the cross Christ was not only made the chief Cornerstone, but also as a stone of stumbling (I Peter 2:6-8).
It is the cross, therefore, that makes division between faith and unbelief, between election and reprobation. The cross and "Jesus in the midst" (John 19:18) show clearly that the reason one person believes and not another is not in man but in Christ's cross and in the purpose of God that is revealed through Christ.
The blood of the cross is the reconciliation of all things in heaven and earth (Colossians 1:20), but above all the cross is our reconciliation to God, payment for our sin, atonement and redemption (vv. 21, 22). At the cross all of Jesus' suffering and humiliation reached its climax, especially during the three hours of darkness. During that time, bearing our sins, he went to face God the Judge. What happened during those few hours is far beyond our comprehension.
Only one brief word comes to us out of the darkness, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" During that time the Son of God was forsaken by his Father and so suffered all that our sin deserves. He was forsaken that we might be accepted of God and never be forsaken by him. Suffering all the wrath of God for our sins, he delivered us from that wrath, so that we shall never experience what happened during those three hours of darkness, nor what it means to face God as an angry and implacable judge.
Lastly, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is the source of our sanctification, as Paul tells us in Galatians 6:14, "By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." It is the reason we suffer persecution (Galatians 6:12). It is even a symbol of the self-denial that we must practice for his sake (Matthew 10:38). It is the source of every blessing we have in this life and in the life to come. Let us then know nothing but Christ and him crucified.
Limited Atonement
Calvinists believe in limited atonement, that is, that Christ did not die for all men but only for the elect. By limited atonement, however, is not meant that the value or power of Christ's death and blood are limited, but only that he died for a "limited" number of people.
It is better to speak not of limited atonement, but of particular atonement. The word particular emphasizes the biblical truth that Christ died only for some particular persons, and not for all without exception.
We believe in particular or limited atonement because of the many passages of Scripture which teach that Christ died not for all but for many (Isaiah 53:11; Matthew 20:28; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:28), that is, he died for his people (Isaiah 53:8; Matthew 1:21), for his sheep (John 10:14, 15, 26-28) and for the church (Acts 20:28).
We do not believe that the passages that speak of "all" or of "the world" in any way contradict those that speak of a limited number. The Word of God cannot contradict itself. What such passages teach is that Christ died for all men without distinction, not for all men without exception. In other words, such passages teach that Christ died for all kinds of men (I Timothy 2:1-6), for all who are in him (1 Corinthians 15:22), or for the "world" of his own people, that is for his elect from every nation (compare John 3:16 and John 17:9).
Limited atonement alone exalts Christ as Savior. The idea that Christ died for all men, but that many are still not saved, debases Christ's saving work. That teaching really says Christ did not do enough by his suffering and death for our salvation and that something more is needed (usually a person's freewill choice). It says that Christ died for all, but that some still go to hell. If that were true, Christ's blood was shed in vain for some and his death was useless for them. Then his death was not really a ransom, an atonement, or a satisfaction for sin, nor did it reconcile us to God.
If Christ died for all men, and yet some are still not saved, and if the difference is their freewill choice, then the thing that really matters in our salvation is not Christ's death, but our choice. Then our salvation depends not on him, but on us. God forbid that we should think such things about Christ's death or about ourselves.
The teaching that Christ died for his elect people, those whom the Father had given him, means that he did all that was necessary for their salvation by his suffering and death, and that nothing more is needed. Then his death really is atonement, reconciliation, full payment for sin, ransom, and satisfaction. Then he really does save (and save completely) those for whom he died.
Limited atonement says that Christ does not simply make salvation available. He is a Prince and a Savior. Thanks be to God!
Christ's Descent into Hell
Christ's humiliation is another step in His going to hell. In the Apostles' Creed the early church confessed that Christ "descended into hell." There has always been controversy about this confession, especially since "descended into hell" follows the creed's statement that he "was crucified, dead, and buried."
Many have taught that Christ actually went to the place called hell after his death and before his resurrection. They point to I Peter 3:18 to 20 as proof. These verses, however, are speaking about something that took place "by the Spirit" and after the resurrection. What is more, the idea that Christ was in hell after his death contradicts his own word to the dying thief: "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).
Others teach that if the descent into hell means anything, it refers to the time that Christ was in the grave. This explanation corresponds most nearly to Psalm 16:10, the one passage of Scripture where Christ is spoken of as being in hell, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." The second part of verse 10 (referring to corruption) and the previous verse, which refers to Christ's flesh, might suggest that Psalm 16:10 is talking about Christ's burial.
The Westminster Larger Catechism says, "Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried, and continuing in the state of the dead and under the power of death till the third day; which hath been otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell." [1]
However, the word hell in Acts 2:31, where Psalm 16:10 is quoted, is a word that in every other case in the New Testament refers to the place of eternal punishment. There must be a sense, then, in which Christ was not only in the grave, but in hell, though not necessarily in the place itself.
When and how did that happen? We believe that Christ was in hell in this sense: during his suffering on the cross, he experienced in our place what the Heidelberg Catechism calls the "the anguish and torments of hell." [2]
He certainly expressed that in his words from the cross: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). To be cast out of God's presence and to be forsaken of him is what hell is all about. This is what Christ suffered.
But whether Christ's descent into hell refers to his burial, or to what he endured on the cross, or to both, it reminds us of his inexpressible suffering and the fact that he has by his suffering and death delivered our souls from the lowest hell. By those same sufferings he has also earned for all of his people a place in everlasting glory in the presence of God and of the holy angels. There he (and we with him) will enjoy everlasting glory and blessedness.
Christ's Burial
Christ's burial is usually considered to be part of his humiliation. Acts 2:24 tells us why. It was not until he was raised that the "pains of death" were loosed. Until then he continued "in the state of the dead, and under the power of death." [3]
His burial was a necessary part of his work, because by it he showed that he had suffered and conquered all our death. It is only because he was buried and in the grave that we can say, "O grave, where is thy victory?" (I Corinthians 15:55), and believe that we shall not be left forgotten in the grave (Psalm 31:12).
It is in Christ's burial too that his victory over sin and death begins to show itself. Acts 2:31 points to this when it says, "Neither his flesh did see corruption."
Those words can only mean that when Christ was in the grave, his body did not begin to decay and rot as ours do. Acts 13:36 and 37 says this about Christ in contrast to David (and all others): "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption."
From that viewpoint, Christ's three days in the grave show that he had conquered all the power of death by his death on the cross. He had done that by paying for sin, which is the "sting of death" (1 Cor. 15:56). Apart from sin, neither death nor the grave has any power. That is the reason, too, why death could not hold Christ (Acts 2:24). So completely had he conquered that death could not even bring on him its ordinary corruption.
In Acts 13:37, 38 the apostle Paul says that because Christ saw no corruption, we may know that there is forgiveness of sins through him. We do not have to wait, therefore, until the resurrection to learn that his work is finished and that full atonement has been made for us. His burial already proclaims it.
Because Christ was buried and saw no corruption in the grave, we can be sure that someday we also shall be incorruptible: "This corruptible must put on incorruption." When that happens, the saying will have been brought to pass, "Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor. 15:53,54).
We may not ever forget that Jesus died on the cross and was raised again the third day. But neither may we forget that he was "crucified, dead, and buried." In this, too, he shows himself to be our Savior. And what a Savior he is, that even the corrupting power of the grave, the stink, the decay, the ugliness, and all that they represent, are overcome by him. He has destroyed completely the spiritual corruption of sin for us, so that even in death our bodies shall only be "asleep in Jesus."
Christ's Resurrection
Christ's resurrection is the first step in his state of exaltation. It is also one of the great works of our redemption. Without the resurrection, even the cross is not complete. The Word of God reminds us of this in I Corinthians 15:17: "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Without the resurrection we would be still in our sins in two ways and for two reasons. We would still be in our sins both legally and actually.
First, that we would still be in our sins legally means that without the resurrection we would not be justified and have our sins forgiven.
Why? Because justification is a work of God himself as Judge. He must pass the sentence that justifies us. He does this in raising Christ from the dead and thereby accepting and approving Christ's finished work on our behalf. The resurrection is, therefore, the sentence of the everlasting and unchangeable judge of heaven and earth sealing our justification.
Think of it this way: On the cross Christ said, "It is finished". God said, "It is finished" in raising Christ from the dead. Thus God passes the sentence that legally justifies us before him. That is what Romans 4:25 means: ...And was raised again for our justification. This is why the Bible emphasizes in so many passages that God raised Christ from the dead.
Second, without the resurrection we would also still be in our sins actually. If Christ had not been raised, we would have no one to give us the gift of faith, and through faith the forgiveness of sins and deliverance from all our sins. We would still be living as we once did, in our sins. As our living Lord, Christ gives us both forgiveness of sins and deliverance from sin. He gives us both peace and holiness.
That does not; however, tell all the blessedness of Christ's resurrection. The resurrection is also the means of our access to God. As the first begotten of the dead (Revelation 1:5), Christ is the one who opens the way into the presence of God and into the favor of God. That was always the work of the firstborn or first begotten - he opened the way for all the other children (Exodus 13:2; Ezekiel 20:26). Christ opens the way for us out of death into life and into the presence of God.
Further, Christ's resurrection stands as the sure pledge that we also shall be raised. His resurrection and ours are inseparable, as Paul demonstrates in I Corinthians 15:16. Because he lives, we shall live also.
Christ's resurrection, therefore, is at the heart of the whole scheme of redemption and cannot be denied without overthrowing all that we believe. Believe it then, and rejoice in him who lives forevermore. He who believes in Christ crucified and raised again shall never die.
FOOTNOTES
1 The Larger Catechism of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Answer 60.
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2 Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 16, Q&A 44.
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3 The Westminster Larger Catechism, Answer 50.
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