The Atoning Death of Christ on the Cross
Dr. Seyoon Kim writes about the atoning death of Christ on the cross.
For Paul, as for the other New Testament (NT) writers, the death and resurrection of Christ constitute the saving event. Therefore, Paul preaches the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection, affirming that it is the common gospel of all the apostles (1 Cor 15:3–5, 11). However he often summarizes the gospel in terms of the “death-formula” (“Christ died for our sins/us”), thus sharply focusing on Christ’s death as the saving event. So it is no surprise when he says that during his mission in Corinth he decided to know “nothing but Christ crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).
The Reformation started with the rediscovery of the essentially Pauline gospel of justification, and this Pauline form of preaching the gospel is especially based on an understanding of Christ’s atoning death in terms of penal substitution. Hence, purporting to be faithful heirs to the great Reformation heritage, evangelicals have cherished the penal substitutionary theory of the atonement and the doctrine of justification in their gospel proclamation.
HT: Justin Taylor
