Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The cosmic scope of the atonement

Richard Gaffin on the cosmic scope of the atonement:
Again, the salvation effected in the cross and resurrection is of sweeping cosmic and "new-aeon" proportions.

United to Christ in his death and resurrection, believers share in the eschatalogical triumph of God over sin and its consequences. While for them that victory has a still-future aspect, in the resurrection of the body it is a present reality that has taken hold of, and renewed them at the core of their being. They are no longer slaves of sin but alive to God; they "no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Cor 5:15), a life in union with the resurrected Christ that transforms every aspect of their existence.


Christ's death and resurrection inaugurates the realization of God's final, consummate purposes for creation.

(Nicole, Roger R., Charles E. Hill, and Frank A. James. The Glory of the Atonement: Biblical, Historical & Practical Perspectives : Essays in Honor of Roger Nicole. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004. Print. 144)


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