UNDERSTANDING THE ATONEMENT 2nd Edition — April 2011 The material for this book was originally prepared for the Richmond-Petersburg, VA ecclesial Study Weekend held in March 2011. Full version of the book is available for FREE download at: www.UnderstandingTheAtonement.com This book may be used or reproduced for personal use except that it may not be re- produced for commercial gain or profit. For more information please contact: Select Media, PO Box 5, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5W 1A2. Available to purchase at:: www.SelectMedia.ca/Books or www.UnderstandingTheAtonement.com Printed by 48 Hours Printing, Akron OH. First paperback edition published in 2011. Reader’s Notes: All scriptural quotations are taken from the King James Version, unless otherwise specified. KJV— King James Version NKJV— New King James Version NIV— New International Version NLT— New Living Translation RV— Revised Version RSV— Revised Standard Version [ ] — Denote author’s comments Bold Italic Underline — Used in quoted passages for emphasis “What I like about ‘Understanding The Atonement’ is that it’s Biblical; it’s readable; it’s easy to follow; it’s logical; it’s un- derstandable; it’s practical; and it makes sense…” ~ Richard Morgan (Ontario, Canada) “I found “Understanding the Atonement” to be the clearest and simplest contemporary exposition of the doctrine that I have read, as well as an excellent expose’ of the incorrect theories that have troubled the Brotherhood since the 1870s. I recommend it to anyone who genuinely desires to see through the mists of language and thought that have clouded this most wonderful of all themes in Scripture for far too long.” ~ Jim Cowie (Queensland, Australia) “‘Understanding the Atonement’ is a concise and Biblical treatment of the subject. It helps the reader understand the language used in atonement discussions as well as the ex- treme teachings that have come about over the years. This makes it beneficial both as a onetime read or for use as a ref- erence.” ~ David King (Virginia, USA) “I found ‘Understanding The Atonement’ an excellent study of the subject. It was very plain and clear, well laid out and brought out points that many will not know. I would that all Christadelphians would have the opportunity to read it.” ~ Robert J. Lloyd (California, USA) “It is refreshing to hear the gospel articulated clearly, and yet with sufficient scriptural and historical detail, as it relates to this so very important subject…” ~ Ted Hodge Jnr. (Ontario, Canada) “I have read five works on this crucial subject in the last cou- ple of months. I feel especially privileged to have had this opportunity to read, and re-read, this considerable contribu- tion to ‘Understanding the Atonement’.” ~ Richard Purkis (Bournemouth, UK) “An excellent uncompromising crystallization of God's right- eousness as exemplified in His eternal principles of the atonement or ‘reconciliation’ through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. A wonderful read for young and old by way of reinforcement, clarification and explanation.” ~ Ron and Debbie McPhee (Virginia, USA) “‘Understanding the Atonement’ is a very thorough work, which avoids most of the clichés and makes for easy reading for those who really want to get a grasp of the subject. It is well researched and very fair. Scripture is made the court of appeal and that is how it should be. It will be a useful addi- tion to our literature.” ~ Des Manser (South Australia) Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8 FOREWORD 9 PREFACE 10 INTRODUCTION: DOES IT REALLY MATTER? 11 THE FIRST THREE KEYS… 13 Key Number One 16 Key Number Two 17 Key Number Three 19 PART 1: UNDERSTANDING THE DOCTRINE…….21 1. The Purpose of God 23 2. The Nature of Man 26 The Garden of Delight 27 The eternal purpose 28 The inventor of a lie 29 The state of unbelief 31 Ungodly desires 32 The vocabulary of disobedience 33 The law of sin and death 35 The battle of the mind 36 3. The Nature of Christ 39 It is God who saves 41 Coats of skin 43 Born of our nature 45 4. The Work of God 47 God was in Christ 48 Our perfect example 49 What is sacrifice? 50 The perfect sacrifice 51 Certain facts and truths 54 The captain of our salvation 56 The significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ 58 5. Our Hope in Christ 63 Baptized into Christ 65 The conditions of forgiveness 68 The significance of the bread and wine 70 The price of redemption 73 A brief review 75 PART 2: UNDERSTANDING THE EXTREMES…..….79 1. The First Extreme “Clean-Flesh” 81 Early challenges 82 Where did Bro. Turney go wrong 85 Changes to the Statement of Faith 87 2. The Second Extreme “Andrewism” 88 The tip of the iceberg 93 The debate 98 Further changes to the Statement of Faith 105 The teachings of Thomas Williams 109 A new Statement of Faith 115 Challenging the Truth 119 PART 3: UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES….127 1. What is ‘Sin’? 129 ‘Sin’ in the New Testament 133 Two principle acceptations 137 2. A Sacrifice For Sin 141 The condemnation of sin 142 Made sin for us 146 3. How Did Christ Benefit? 147 4. Types and Shadows 151 The Order of Melchizedec 152 A covering 155 Atonement in the Old Testament 157 Cleansing 159 In conclusion 162 5. False Conclusions 164 PART 4: UNDERSTANDING IN PRACTICE………..171 1. Sin is Real 173 Sin becomes us 174 Divine education 175 The Four Stages of Competence 177 2. Releasing The Angel Inside 181 (An Exhortation) 1. The commission 182 2. Visualisation 183 3. Preparation 185 4. Commitment 186 5. Fighting the Goliath 187 6. Hands, feet and head 188 7. Different tools 190 8. Practice 191 9. The beauty is in the detail 192 10. Sand and polish 193 3. Unity of The Faith 195 One Body 197 One Spirit 197 One Hope 198 One Lord 198 One Faith 198 One Baptism 199 One God and Father of all 200 Walking in the light 201 Fellowship responsibilities 202 Common Union 204 True Unity 205 KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING THE ATONEMENT 209 APPENDIX A 213 APPENDIX B 215 Acknowledgements here are many brothers and sisters who have been instru- mental over the years in helping make these studies be- come a reality. I especially wish to thank all those breth- T ren who are my own teachers, many of whom spent many hours with me, either in person or on the telephone, patiently explaining (and often re-explaining!) the differences between Truth and error regarding this most important subject of “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” We are also grateful, to those brethren who have laboured so hard in the Word over the years, preparing talks, producing articles and writing books on this subject. Their work is a great source of knowledge and understanding, and re- main a valuable heritage for the brotherhood. I also wish to thank all those who have laboured diligently behind the scenes to help prepare this material for print. I espe- cially wish to thank those who have taken the time to review it for its historical and doctrinal accuracy, and ensure that the material presented is a true and faithful representation of God’s Word. I also wish to thank those who have given so generously of their time to check general readability, grammar and spelling. Finally, I wish to thank those who know me best (they know who they are) for your support and friendship, and especially for your kind words of encouragement that have helped me to keep the course. Most especially, to Sister Carla for her patience and under- standing while these studies and notes were being prepared. Foreword n his opening words, Brother Matthew says, “There is no subject in the Bible of greater importance or more vital to our salvation than the subject of “Jesus Christ and him cruci- I fied”, more commonly referred to within Christadelphian cir- cles as the doctrine of the ‘Atonement.’” He then proceeds to open up the scriptures to explain, in easy to understand language, how beautiful the doctrine of the Atonement is in its simplicity, and how profound it is in its implications. He then uses three keys to help unlock the true teaching of Scripture on this most important subject of the ‘Atonement’. ‘Understanding The Atonement’ is an excellent study of the subject. It is very plain and clear, well laid out and brings out points that many will not know. I would that all Christadelphians would have the opportunity to read it. This is a book that every Christadelphian home should have on their book shelf, or even more importantly, have on their coffee table. It is written in a way to help us understand the problems that have arisen over the years with false teachings, and help us see how important it is for us to truly understand the doctrine of the Atonement. He has successfully fulfilled his goal in helping us to under- stand the doctrine, understand the extremes, understand the differ- ences, and, finally, how to put into practice what we have learned. The book is well researched, and it is presented to us in such a way that it will help each of us to ‘know the truth so that the truth will truly make us free’ (cp. John 8:32). — Robert J. Lloyd Preface hen I first arrived in North America, coincidently, I found myself living down the street from a Christa- delphian ecclesial hall. On the Sunday morning I W arrived at the hall and introduced myself as a Christadelphian. To my surprise I was told that I did not belong to their fellowship and would not be welcome to share the memorials that morning.