The true Gospel–entailing the redeeming power of God’s premial justice–is the ultimate discriminator of God’s heart as distinct from our earthly circumstances. It is the ultimate revelation of the supremely comforting truth that regardless of our outward circumstances and environing evils, God’s love and graciousness cannot be alienated from those who are trusting in Him. JESUS PROVED IT! FOR DESPITE CONDEMNATION BY HUMAN JUDGMENT, CRUCIFIXION, CURSE OF THE LAW OF MOSES, AND DESCENT TO HADES, HE NEVER TASTED GOD’S WRATH! (Hebrews 2:9) [8/23/10]
Jesus descended out of his previous heavenly form into the “real time” form of a human body, subject to all the evils and, finally, death, that are consequent on Adam’s deprivation of the fruit of the Tree of Life. By living a life of perfect and faithful obedience to his Father in heaven, while enduring abuses on earth, in real time, he actually won back the right to agelong life in real time for the sake of all humankind. The fruit of his suffering, culminating in death on a “tree,” more than compensates for our loss of access to the fruit of the Tree of Life. [8/23/10]
Why can’t God simply do extraordinary good to the righteous without having to do evil to someone conjointly or reflexively in order to “pay for” it or otherwise “make it possible“?! Must God somehow cut loose with a bolt of wrath in order to justify a quantum of grace or favor? Yet this appears to be the preposterous rationale underlying all traditional “satisfaction” theories of the Atonement. The thought that Jesus was worthy of stupendous favor from God for suffering as he did “merely” from Satan’s infernal fury and rage, completely aside from any show of divine wrath whatever, is unthinkable to “penal satisfaction” proponents. Where is their Biblical sense of justice?! [8/23/10]
The translation of 2 Corinthians 5:15 as “…to the One dying and being raised for their sakes [huper],“is confirmed by Polycarp in his epistle to the Philippians 9:2, “For they did not ‘love this present age’ but him who died for [huper] us and was resurrected [anastanta] by God because of [di] us,” perhaps on the analogy of Romans 4:25, “…and was raised because of [dia] our justifying” [8/23/10], right in line with Abraham’s own justifying, which covenanted blessing was likewise accessed by faith (4:22-24). [1/5/22]
The Premial Atonement 