Winslow atonment experimental and practical views of the Atonement

Winslow Experimental Practical views of the Atonement

Winslow Experimental and Practical Views of the Atonement analyzes the different aspects of the Atonement.

Winslow Experimental and Practical Views of the Atonement analyzes the different aspects of the Atonement.

Experimental and Practical Views of the Atonement

Octavius Winslow, 1839
experimental and practical views of the Atonement

Version 1.1 Sept 2020

Table of Contents of Experimental and Practical Views of the Atonement

Preface
1 The Spiritual and Experimental Character of the Atonement
2. The Divine Attributes Entwining Around the Tempted and Trembling Believer
3. The Speciality of the Design of the Atonement
4. The Freeness of the Atonement
5. The Tried Believer Comforted
6. The Fearful Alternative of Rejecting the Atonement
experimental and practical views of the Atonement

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Sample Chapter 2. The Atonement in its relation to Godhead of Christ.

The Atonement in its Relation to the Godhead of Christ.

The Divine Attributes Entwining Around the Tempted and Trembling Believer

“The church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. ” Act 20:28.

In entering upon the more immediate discussion of this glorious subject, it seems proper and appropriate that we should begin with the absolute Deity of Christ. The reader will at once perceive the propriety of this, from a consideration of the single fact, that all the value and efficacy of the atoning blood is derived solely and entirely from the dignity of the person who sheds it. If Christ is not absolutely and truly what the Word of God declares, and what he himself professes to be, the true God, then, as it regards the great purpose for which his Atonement was made, that is, the satisfaction of Divine justice, in a full and entire sacrifice for sin, it were utterly valueless. We feel the vast and solemn importance of this point. We cannot view it lightly, nor discuss it partially. And in reading disquisitions on the Atonement, otherwise able and elaborate, we have been pained to find this single point passed by, with so superficial and casual an allusion: whereas it is of the deepest importance; it is the key-stone of the arch, sustaining and holding together every part of the mighty fabric. Our examination of the claims of Christ to proper Deity cannot be too close: we cannot too rigidly scrutinize the truth of his Godhead; Jesus himself challenges investigation. When personally upon earth, carrying forward the great work of redemption, on all occasions, and by all means, he announced and proved his Deity. Thus was he wont to declare it: “I and my Father are one. ” “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. ” “I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. ” experimental and practical views of the Atonement

Thus was he wont to confirm it: “I have greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me that the Father has sent me. ” “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him. ” Our blessed Lord saw and felt the importance of a full belief in the doctrine of his Godhead. If the foundation of our faith were not laid deep and broad in this, he well knew that no structure, however splendid in its external form, could survive the storm that will eventually sweep away every lying refuge. And what, to the believing soul, is more animating than the full, unwavering conviction of the fact, that he who bore our sins in his own body on the tree, was God in our nature?- that he who became our surety and substitute, was Jehovah himself: “God manifest in the flesh?”- that, as God, he became incarnate, as God, he obeyed, and as God-man, he suffered the penalty? What deep views does this fact give of sin! what exalted views of sin’s atonement! Pray, dear reader, that the blessed and Eternal Spirit may build you up in the belief of this truth.

It is a truth on which we can live, and on no other can we die. That Satan should often suggest suspicions to the mind respecting the veracity of this doctrine we can easily imagine. That a dear saint of God should at times find his faith wavering in its attempts to grasp this wondrous fact, “the incarnate mystery” we marvel not. It is the very basis of his hope; is it surprising that Satan should strive to overturn it? It is the very sun of the Christian system; is it surprising that he should seek to veil it? Satan’s great controversy is with Christ. Christ came to overthrow his kingdom and he did overthrow it. Christ came to vanquish him, and he triumphed. This signal and total defeat Satan will never forget. To regain his kingdom he cannot. To recover what he has lost he knows to be impossible. Therefore his shafts are leveled against Christ’s members. And the doctrine, to them most essential and precious- the doctrine of Christ’s Godhead- is the doctrine most frequently and severely assailed. Let no believer sink in despondency under this severe temptation. Let him look afresh to the cross, afresh to the atoning blood; and faith in Him, whose word stilled the angry waves of the Galilean lake, and whose look prostrated to the ground the soldiers sent to his arrest, will give him the victory.

It is our design in this chapter to bring before the reader, in a limited compass, the scripture testimony to the Deity of our adorable Immanuel, and the just inference which is derived in favor of the Divine efficacy of his atoning blood. The result of this scripture investigation will compel us to adopt one of two conclusions- Either that Christ is an impostor- his Atonement of no value, and the worship we have rendered him mistaken and idolatrous, or, that he is all that the Scriptures declare him to be, the supreme God; his death vicarious- and he himself a just object of spiritual worship. While, if the former conclusion be the one fairly deducible from the Word of God, then it will appear that they who reject Christ’s Deity, are opposed to the most stupendous and transcendent display which has, or ever will be, made of the Divine wisdom and goodness, and consequently, dying in this rejection, are doomed to the fearful punishment of those who are found fighting against God. Anathema maranatha. experimental and practical views of the Atonement

The supreme Deity of Christ rests for its proof upon the testimony of God’s Word. We bring the doctrine to no other test; nor shall we, in examining this testimony, perplex the mind of the reader with needless criticisms. It is an erroneous impression which many have imbibed, that the Scriptures cannot be understood without the constant application of philological criticism, to bring to light their deep and concealed meaning. If this were so, then is God’s Word lost to more than two-thirds of the human race, who have no such key to its concealed treasures, and consequently the very purpose of revelation must be entirely frustrated. The holy men who wrote the Scripture under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were, in general, plain and unlettered men.

They were educated at the Savior’s feet; and therefore a beautiful simplicity of style- a style unadorned by the arts of rhetoric, and untrammeled by the technicalities of the schools pervades all their writing. We are far from undervaluing the aid afforded in the investigation of revealed truth by the labors of able and learned biblicists- the Church owes them, and will ever owe them, a debt of gratitude. “I deny not the utility of such learning, ” are the sentiments of a profound scholar and eminent divine; “but I wish to establish a correct idea of the nature and extent of its utility, as seldom reaching beyond the explaining of allusions and phrases of minor importance; while the great facts and doctrines, the precepts and the promises of the gospel, are expressed in terms the most plain and the least associated with remote allusions. ” And when we turn our eyes towards Germany, and discover a decrease in evangelical piety, of true vital Christianity, almost in the same ratio with the advance of philological learning, we are compelled to yield our preference to the scriptural and simple method of investigating religious truth; that is, “comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ” Jesus Christ is the true God; if this be scripturally proved, then the inference will be indisputable, that his precious blood is of priceless value and sovereign efficacy.

It has been usual, in establishing this doctrine, to refer to the various modes by which God has manifested himself in his own sacred word, and then to trace the application of each and all these several particulars, both in nature and degree, as they are attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The modes of manifestation are- the names which are given to him- the attributes which are ascribed to him- the actions peculiar to himself- the relations which he sustains to created beings and the worship which he has demanded from his intelligent creatures. Let us then proceed to show how Christ stands forth invested with each and all of these several properties of Deity. We begin with the NAMES which are given to God.

The idea conveyed to the mind by the names Jehovah, Lord, God, are self-existence, omnipotence, infinite and absolute perfection; indeed, they include all the awesome attributes which belong to the Divine nature. Now then our argument is this; Jehovah is the incommunicable name of the eternal, self-existent God- if it can be shown that in the Scriptures of truth Christ is called Jehovah, Lord, God, then Christ is God. experimental and practical views of the Atonement

We commence with Num 21:5-7: “The people spoke against Jehovah, and Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many people of Israel died. ” Now compare this passage with 1Co 10:8: “Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. ” To what conclusion do these passages conduct us, but to the blessed one, that the Person whom the rebellious Israelites tempted, who inflicted the punishment, and who swore they should not enter into his rest, was the Eternal Son of God Jehovah Jesus?

Again, Isa 6:1-6: “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also Jehovah sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy! Holy! Holy! is Jehovah of hosts! the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the whole house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts. ” And in the eighth verse, “Also I heard the voice of Jehovah, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me! And he said, Go and tell this people, Hear indeed, but understand not; and see indeed, but perceive not; make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and be healed. ” Compare these passages with Joh 12:39-41: “Therefore they could not believe, because that Elijah said again, He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Elijah, when he saw his glory and spoke of him. ” Whose glory was it that Elijah saw, and of whom did he speak? It was the glory of the only- begotten Son of God- and of Him he spoke. It was the Glory of Christ as the King Jehovah of hosts- the Ancient of days- He that was to come. Here, dear reader, might we pause and adore the great Jehovah for this glorious revelation of himself. Blessed Immanuel! give us, by the teaching of your Spirit, clear, close, humbling views of your exalted person. Keep our souls fast anchored on this truth, that you are God in our nature.

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experimental and practical views of the Atonement