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Atonement Grammars

Christians are always working hard to faithfully communicate the gospel to the people around them. In a diverse community there are diverse people with diverse backgrounds. If you are like me then you have scratched your head mid conversation as you have wondered how to speak gospel truth to them in a way that compellingly and winsomely intersects with their worldview and value system.

In his book Center Church Tim Keller provides some “atonement grammars” or languages by which the work of Christ on the cross can be presented. I find them to be helpful for me in my own effort to be clear with the gospel and pass them on to you for the same purpose.

  1. The language of the battlefield. Christ fought against the powers of sin and death for us. He defeated the powers of evil for us.
  2. The language of the marketplace. Christ paid the ransom price, the purchase price, to buy us out of our indebtedness. He frees us from enslavement.
  3. The language of exile. Christ was exiled and cast out of the community so we who deserve to be banished could be brought in. He brings us home.
  4. The language of the temple. Christ is the sacrifice that purifies us and makes us acceptable to draw near to the holy God. He makes us clean and beautiful.
  5. The language of the law court. Christ stands before the judge and takes the punishment we deserve. He removes our guilt and makes us righteous.

Keller then goes on to say that we should not simply choose which one of these that we like and only use it. Instead, each model is a way of communicating an aspect of Christ’s atoning work for us. Therefore, work hard to understand and employ these concepts.

Further, says Keller, the essential concept of substitution runs through each.

…the essence of the atonement is always Jesus acting as our substitute. Jesus fights the powers, pays the price, bears the exile, makes the sacrifice, and bears the punishment for us, in our place, on our behalf. In every grammar Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He accomplishes salvation; we do nothing at all. And therefore the substitionary sacrifice of Jesus is at the heart of everything. (Center Church), p. 131.

Instead of being paralyzed by fear of what to communicate or of fear of how to relate to unbelievers, the Christian should work hard to know the gospel deeply while listening to the heart cries from the unbelieving world around them.

 

 

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