Major Biblical Categories

In this part of the sermon: Martin reviews the previous weeks' holistic approach to 'For Whom Did Christ Die?', emphasizing the covenant of redemption, union with Christ, and Christ's priestly functions as…

Martin quotes Professor Murray's book as a distillation of biblical truth on the atonement, highlighting its value in understanding the major biblical categories of Christ's death.

simply cannot stand in the light of the death of Christ viewed in relationship to the categories of the covenant of redemption, union with Christ, and his priestly activity. Now we come to the inner circle this morning, a consideration of the death of Christ in its major biblical categories, and here I am greatly indebted to and will follow very closely the outline given by Professor Murray in his book Redemption and the Death of Christ. Redemption accomplished and applied in particular verses 24 through 78. Verses 24 through 78 in Redemption accomplished and applied, and as far as I'm concern...

2:57 - 4:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The notion in essence was that the sin of the offerer was imputed to the offering, and the offering bore as a result the death penalty. It was the substituted endurance of the penalty or liability to sin.

The Old Testament worshipper laying hands on an animal victim illustrates the transfer of sin and liability, showing the core concept of substitutionary imputation in sacrifice.

What is the Old Testament idea of sacrifice? If the New Testament usage drips with Old Testament connotations, then it is essential, it is incumbent upon the interpreter of this term used in the New Testament to make sure that no category of thought emerges that violates the broad, fixed categories of the Old Testament connotation of sacrifice. And breathing through the Old Testament connotation of sacrifice, quoting from Professor Murray, are the matters of sin and liability. Sin involves a certain liability, a liability arising from the holiness of God on the one hand, and the gravity of sin...

9:43 - 11:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin addresses 'reconciliation,' citing Romans 5:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:19-21. He clarifies that biblical reconciliation primarily concerns overcoming God's just hostility to…

The analogy of a third party reconciling an alienated husband and wife illustrates the concept of overcoming hindrance to a relationship, applied to God's reconciliation with sinners.

A husband and a wife are not on speaking terms, and someone goes as a third party and seeks to get them reconciled. You seek to overcome, dispose of and remove whatever is the hindrance to their coming into a face-to-face amicable relationship. Well, the primary concern of the biblical doctrine of reconciliation as it relates to the death of Christ is not the eternal, ethical, moral influence of the death of Christ overcoming the hostility of the sinner to God. Rather, the emphasis is upon the death of Christ that did something to overcome God's just hostility to the sinner. And Professor Murr...

25:10 - 26:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Investigate the core terms (sacrifice, propitiation, reconciliation, redemption) through thorough word studies if you are having problems understanding the extent of the atonement.

Martin recounts his personal journey of wrestling with God's sovereignty in salvation, which was resolved through careful word studies of 'elect,' 'foreknow,' 'predestinate,' and 'call,' demonstrating the power of linguistic precision in theology.

Perhaps by way of illustrating how helpful this is. When I was wrestling through the issue of the sovereignty of God in salvation, the issue was not resolved until I did a careful word study of four words. Elect and its derivatives. Foreknow and its various first and second cousin words. And then the word predestinate, and then the word call. And after a thorough word study of those words as they're used in Scripture, I went on record as saying, if you ever hear that Pastor Albert Martin no longer holds to the sovereignty of God in grace, you'll know that he's thrown out his Bible and much wit...

30:46 - 31:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Deepen your understanding and conviction of particular atonement by contemplating these biblical terms and reading works by Professor Murray and A.W. Pink.

The particularism of marriage, where a husband loves his own wife distinctly, is used to illustrate and reinforce the particularism of Christ's love for the church in Ephesians 5.

and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and present it but the verse does not say that he did not love nor give himself for anyone else well you see there are many problems with taking that tact not the least of which is you don't build theology on the silences of scripture especially when it's in a context of particularism he's urging husbands to love their own wives to have a distinct and peculiar love to those that they have taken to themselves in the strict particularism of marriage marriage is a very particular relationship at least I hope yours is and I'm sure your wife hopes your...

37:11 - 38:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Deepen your understanding and conviction of particular atonement by contemplating these biblical terms and reading works by Professor Murray and A.W. Pink.

The hypothetical scenario of Judas in hell claiming 'He loved me and gave himself for me' is used to highlight the lack of comfort and certainty in a general atonement, contrasting it with the specific, personal love of Christ in particular redemption.

in lesser categories you see if you're going to split it up and say well yes he did these particular things to secure those particular ends for those particular people so you have strict particularism well where in the Bible does it say that his death then was something other than sacrifice for those for whom he died where was it something less than propitiation where was it something less than reconciliation in what way was it something less than redemption well then you see you're left without any exegetical materials because the Bible simply doesn't do that it always describes the death in ...

38:39 - 40:08 Read in full sermon

The point: When discussing the extent of the atonement with someone who raises verses like 1 Timothy 4 or 2 Peter 3:9, refuse to discuss those verses until they first discuss their understanding of foundational biblical categories …

Martin shares his delight in discovering John Owen's 'Death of Death in the Death of Christ' and finding that Owen built his argument on the very passages that had convinced Martin of particular atonement, confirming his convictions.

I don't want to labor it with a lot of passages but these are broad categories and I say again and this is the only point at which I've been as pervasively biographical when I was wrestling through this issue I found these two things that I've shared with you this morning to be of tremendous help to me and then when I wrestled through these passages particularly Ephesians 5 and Titus 2 and then Matthew 1 though it doesn't mention the cross just the fact that thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people those were the things that pushed me over the hill and then about that time I...

46:00 - 47:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Help people think in a holistic biblical way, moving beyond an atomistic view of scripture to understand the broader categories that permeate the doctrine of atonement.

The analogy of a quack treating symptoms versus a good doctor treating causes is used to explain that shoddy views on the extent of the atonement are symptomatic of ignorance regarding larger biblical categories.

before nobody was even created now how do you figure that out throw it back at him say how do you figure that out do you believe the Bible well sure I do what does that mean chosen in him before the foundation of the world get him thinking you see the average person who has problems with the concept of definite atonement has those problems because he's never considered these broader categories which lie beneath it and beyond it and outside of it and permeate it you see that's the problem there's this atomistic view of the scriptures the verse here verse here and we must then seek to help peopl...

51:52 - 53:18 Read in full sermon