## Multifaceted Sacrifice
I'm going to have to refactor this one if I want it to be coherent. The primary premises are as follows:
1. The Sacrifice of Christ was Multifaceted
1. It served numerous purposes, including:
1. The purchase of a people
2. The atonement of a people
3. The ransom of a people, which should be the same as the purchase.
4. The consecration of a priesthood
5. The death of sin
6. Probably more, but these are the ones I am focusing on.
If I can get a hold of this subject, I think I'll finally be able to rest knowing I don't have to shrug through limited atonement when discussing systematic theology. I want to wrestle with it for as long as it deserves.
So, once again, let's reread and rewrite it a few times before putting the pen down.
## Purchased
> [!bible] [2 Peter 2:1 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/61/2/)
> 1. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
This is the verse I am trying to rationalize fully, and specifically, “denying the Master who bought them”.
- Just to confirm, let’s look at the word “bought”.
- agarazo
- It’s used 28 times as bought, so I think it’s safe to assume it means bought. Such as in these verses:
> [!bible] [Matthew 21:12 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/40/21/)
> 12. And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and ”bought” in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
> [!bible] [1 Corinthians 6:20 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/46/6/)
> 20. for you were “bought” with a price. So glorify God in your body.
In all my studies, I either end up or begin with a glance at Matthew Henry’s commentary. Here is his reading on the passage:
> - 3. Those who introduce destructive heresies _deny the Lord that bought them._ They reject and refuse to hear and learn of the great teacher sent from God, though he is the only Saviour and Redeemer of men, who paid a price sufficient to redeem as many worlds of sinners as there are sinners in the world.
He seems to believe that Christ’s atonement was sufficient to pay for all, and that should explain it. I disagree, because it doesn’t say Master who could have bought them, He bought them.
So let’s do 2 things:
1. Define atonement.
1. Setting the base term.
2. Define limited atonement.
1. Understanding it in the lens of systematic theology, specifically soteriology.
3. Figure out the differentiation between purchase and atonement.
1. Or if there is one in the first place.
2. This is the biggest part I believe, because if they are not the same, someone can be purchased and not atoned.
## Atonement
> [!bible] [1 Peter 2:24 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/60/2/)
> 24. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
> [!bible] [Leviticus 17:11 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/3/17/)
> 11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
Interestingly, atonement is never used in the New Testament from what I can see. It is used in the OT all over the place, such as in the aforementioned Leviticus passage. In that case, the word used in “kapar” which translates to “cover” most closely. So the blood of sacrifices covers sin.
We know that Christ’s death was the ultimate sacrifice and that His blood covers us as the Passover lamb. Thus, an atonement was made.
So, an atonement is a covering of sin accomplished through sacrifice.
Now, one word that is used in the New Testament is “hilasmos” or “propitiation”. This leads us to another verse we have to account for:
> [!bible] [1 John 2:2 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/62/2/)
> 2. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Hilasmos seems to be the closest word to atonement I can find in the NT. It’s only used in 1 John, so it’s hard to find context there. I’m going to look at the Greek origin of the word, and then we’ll continue.
There are another two words, hilaskomai and helios, that might give light to context:
- Hilaskomai - Give mercy
- Hilasterion - Mercy, atonement - Heb 9:5
- This word is used throughout the Greek Septuagint to refer to atonement as is the case in verses like Leviticus 16:2, Numbers 7:89
- hileos - Have mercy
So, it seems the root for hilasmos could be mercy and is highly linked to atonement.
I have always been told this as an easy way to understand mercy:
- Grace = An Undeserved Gift Given
- Mercy = A Deserved Punishment Ungiven
So atonement is the covering of sin and undeserved relenting of punishment.
<sub>I think we need to see if atonement equals forgiveness. If it does, then we have plenty to work with. If atonement does not equal forgiveness, then we have plenty of work to do. </sub>
## Limited Atonement
So atonement is the act of mercy and covering of sin.
Limited atonement is simply to say that the atonement did not apply to the whole world right? Let’s find out what good ole RC Sproul has to say about it:
> It’s amazing to me how much controversy ensues over that point of historic Reformed theology. People say, “How can you say that the atonement of Jesus Christ is limited? Doesn’t the Bible say that He dies for the whole world? Are you saying that Jesus’ atoning death is not sufficient to save everybody in the world?” And these same people who say that, say that not everybody in the world is saved.
> Well, why isn’t everybody in the world saved? Because a necessary condition to be saved by the atoning death of Jesus Christ is to have faith in Jesus Christ. And if you have no faith in Jesus Christ, the atoning death of Christ only exacerbates your guilt before God and will do nothing to alleviate it because you have rejected the perfect sacrifice that was offered once for all. But think about this for a minute, friends. If Jesus on the cross died for every sin of every person who ever lived, made an atonement for every sin of every person who ever lived, how can you therefore resist the conclusion of universalism?
> If Jesus died for every sin of every person, there’s nothing left for God to punish. Everybody would be saved because every sin has already been atoned for. But obviously the atonement of Christ is made only for those who believe. And so, in that sense, the efficacy of that atonement is limited. It’s limited to believers. Jesus didn’t die for everybody. He died for believers. He died for the elect. And everyone for whom He died, everyone for whom He made an atonement, has their sins forgiven forever. This was not an afterthought in the economy of God’s plan of salvation, but from all eternity, God had planned to send His Son into the world to atone for the sins of His people.
I am in complete agreement with his statements, and his definition of limited atonement which from my gleaning is this:
Christ’s atoning death was made only for those who believe, and the efficacy of that atonement is limited to the elect, the believers.
So, how do we rationalize this with 1 Peter 2:1?
## Purchased
Here are the verses I want to reconcile, specifically because of their use of the word agarazo or bought:
> [!bible] [Matthew 20:28 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/40/20/)
> 28. even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- 1 Corinthians 6:20
> [!bible] [1 Corinthians 6:20 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/46/6/)
> 20. for you were **”bought”** with a price. So glorify God in your body.
- 2 Peter 2:1
> [!bible] [2 Peter 2:1 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/61/2/)
> 1. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who **“bought”** them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
- Revelation 5:9
> [!bible] [Revelation 5:9 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/66/5/)
> 9. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you **”ransomed”** people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
> [!bible] [1 Timothy 2:3-6 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/54/2/)
> 3. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
> 4. who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
> 5. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
> 6. who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
I think I finally have something clicking. What is the Old Testament precedent and shadow of the New Testament ransom/purchase?
> [!bible] [Exodus 15:16 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/2/15/)
> 16. Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
> [!bible] [Psalm 74:2 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/19/74/)
> 2. Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
> [!bible] [Deuteronomy 7:8 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/5/7/)
> 8. but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
> [!bible] [Leviticus 25:42 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/3/25/)
> 42. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
So we have our shadow, now we need to work out the details. I think the best term to describe what happened to Israel was that they were ransomed. How was Israel ransomed?
Israel was ransomed from Egypt through the defeat of their captors. The victory was their purchase.
So Christ has ransomed us through His victory over death.
Does that sound familiar?
> [!bible] [Hosea 13:14 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/28/13/)
> 14. I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
> [!bible] [1 Corinthians 15:54-57 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/46/15/)
> 54. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
> 55. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
> 56. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
> 57. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So the ransom was performed through the same means as in Exodus, victory over the enemy, and in this case, the enemy was death. Humanity also owes the debt of God’s wrath being poured out on Christ, thus purchasing common grace. So now we focus on the scope of the ransom by calling back to 1 Timothy 2:6:
> [!bible] [1 Timothy 2:3-6 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/54/2/)
> 3. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
> 4. who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
> 5. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
> 6. who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Christ is the ransom for all. Now, did that entail a get out of jail free card? No. It does sound like there was a purchase that is rejected, so those who reject Christ are doubly condemned. I think there is a verse about that. There can be an awareness of this ransom apart from faith as well. This is blasphemy, to know what Christ has done and reject it still.
Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB20) 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
Now the verse that has to be reconciled along with these is that Christ laid His life down for His sheep and His friends. If He ransomed all with his victory, but atoned with His death, this makes sense.
## Ransom and the Scapegoat
Here is my problem. Up till now, my understanding was such that the ransom was not performed through sacrifice, then, when trying to understand Christ's eternal role, I came across this verse:
> [!bible] [1 Peter 1:18-21 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/60/1/)
> 18. knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
> 19. but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
> 20. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
> 21. who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
And in order to understand it, I don't want to read passages out of context, but I do think their is validity in seeing the same imagery in:
> [!bible] [Romans 14:9 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/45/14/)
> 9. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Here it is in its proper context:
> [!bible] [Romans 14:6-12 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/45/14/)
> 6. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
> 7. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
> 8. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
> 9. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
> 10. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;
> 11. for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
> 12. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Verse 9 could be seen as the pivot towards *pas*, or all. We do know that God is the only God of all. In the last days, all will confess before Him, saved and unsaved, living and dead, but I'll rest in saying that I cannot use this passage conclusively.
I will say I was wrong regarding my first conclusion that the ransom was not paid in blood but through conquest. Now I think I need to go back to Exodus to figure out what blood was used to ransom. I think it would be the blood of the lamb that covered the Israelites, but that has to do with atonement, which we know is not universal.
> [!bible] [Exodus 12:1-7 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/2/12/)
> 1. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
> 2. “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.
> 3. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household.
> 4. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
> 5. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,
> 6. and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
> 7. “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
> [!bible] [Exodus 12:21-23 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/2/12/)
> 21. Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.
> 22. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
> 23. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
Here is the atoning sacrifice, which points forward to Christ, even in the hyssop that applies the blood, which now is the faith that applies the atonement:
> [!bible] [Hebrews 9:19-20 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/58/9/)
> 19. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
> 20. saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.”
But I'd also like to take a look at the following chapters, for I believe they are significant regarding the setting free of Israel, which points forward to the purchase of the world:
> [!bible] [Exodus 13:1-3 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/2/13/)
> 1. The LORD said to Moses,
> 2. “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
> 3. Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
> [!bible] [Exodus 13:11-16 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/2/13/)
> 11. “When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,
> 12. you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD's.
> 13. Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
> 14. And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
> 15. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’
> 16. It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”
> [!bible] [Exodus 15:15-18 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/2/15/)
> 15. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
> 16. Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
> 17. You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
> 18. The LORD will reign forever and ever.”
So through these passages, the people of Israel were purchased. I think it could be said faithfully that they were purchased through the sacrifice of the firstborn, not the firstborn of Egypt, but the firstborn of Israel.
Was it the taking on of the the punishment through the placing of global sin on the cross, the scapegoat sacrifice, that paid the global ransom, and the blood of the lamb that kept His people atoned?
Let's take a look at the scapegoat sacrifice:
> [!bible] [Leviticus 16:5-10 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/3/16/)
> 5. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
> 6. “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.
> 7. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
> 8. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.
> 9. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering,
> 10. but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
> [!bible] [Leviticus 16:15-33 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/3/16/)
> 15. “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.
> 16. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.
> 17. No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.
> 18. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.
> 19. And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
> 20. “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.
> 21. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
> 22. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
> 23. “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there.
> 24. And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.
> 25. And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.
> 26. And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
> 27. And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire.
> 28. And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
> 29. “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
> 30. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.
> 31. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever.
> 32. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments.
> 33. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
All of this made me aware that I need to do a full dive into the word *lytroo* or to ransom in the NT.
Here are a few other passages that make use of the word (in both *lytroo* and *lytron* form):
> [!bible] [Matthew 20:25-28 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/40/20/)
> 25. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
> 26. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
> 27. and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
> 28. even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
> [!bible] [Titus 2:13-14 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/56/2/)
> 13. waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
> 14. who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Is redemption the same as ransom? The usage of *lytroo* in 1 Peter 1:18 seems to be the only time the word is used for ransom, with the other two passages using redeem. I would think it could be used synonymously, I just want to beg the question.