The Christian faith centres on the study of the person and work of Jesus. To which the crucial, the crux is what happened to Him on the cross. Therefore it is essential that Christians have some understanding of the meaning of the cross.
Today the significance and necessity of the cross has been questioned not only outwith but also within the Church. Sadly many peole today are not overly concerned with exploring the depths and riches of the atonement, because they are not convinced of the need for it. People are not Christians because they are not persuaded of the truth claims of Christianity, but rather because they are not persuaded of their need for it. They may say "yes, that is all very well, but I do not feel that I need Jesus, the church or Christianity". They don't see themselves as being accountable to God and even if they do many believe that God isn't concerned with how they live, after all "boys will be boys".
It is only when there is recognition of a holy God and that our sins are an offence against this holy God that we can see the need for a saviour. Only when people see the real identity and mission of Jesus, can they start to see their personal need for Him.
Many in our society (again both inside and outside the church) believe that they are justified not by faith alone, nor by good works, nor by a combination of both but instead they believe they are justification by death. Effectively they are saying that an atonement is not necessary. This theology is called palagianism, which is at best sub christian and at worst anti Christian,as at its heart is the denial of the atonement provided by Jesus on the cross. They hold the view that Jesus died merely as a moral example and to provide inspiration by his self sacrifice. But if we take away the reconciling effect of Jesus Christ from the New Testement we are left with nothing but moralism. In palagianism there is no saviour, purely because no such salvation is necessary.
In contrast the bible identifies that atonement for sin was absolutely necessary for any of us to be reconciled to God. I hope to post a further blog on why this is necessary.
The above was an adaptation of a talk delivered by R.C. Sproul entitled 'the need for atonement'.
