There are four major biblical reasons why the atonement was necessary, most of which are intimately connected with God’s nature or character.
1. God’s Righteousness and Justice
Many people who object to the biblical doctrine of the atonement do so because they do not understand who God is. They reason within themselves: “Why doesn’t God simply forgive and forget? Wouldn’t God forgive people as long as they say they are sorry and endeavor to be a better person? Isn’t a little vow of
acceptance of God all that is necessary? Isn’t the idea that only the death and shed blood of Christ can remove sin extreme and fanatical?” The reason God cannot simply let sin slide or sweep it under the rug and pretend it doesn’t exist is because He is righteous and just. “The LORD is righteous, He is in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness” (Zeph.3:5). “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne” (Ps. 89:14). “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He”(Dt. 32:4). Therefore, Abraham, who knew God’s character, could ask Jehovah: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth
do right?” (Gen. 18:25). Likewise, the apostle Paul could say, “Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!” (Rom. 9:14). God can only do what is
right. Because of His nature, He can only do what is just.
God’s nature demands that sin be punished. If God refused to give sin its full measure of punishment then He could not claim to be perfectly just. God’s
infinite holiness, justice and righteousness of necessity demand the infliction of punishment on the sinner himself or on an appropriate substitute. The Bible contains many passages that declare that God has to punish sin. Jehovah said, “I will not justify [i.e. declare righteous] the wicked” (Ex. 23:7). “We are told repeatedly that He will by no means clear the guilty, Ex. 34:7; Num. 14:18; Nah. 1:3. He hates sin with a divine hatred; His whole being reacts against it, Ps. 5:4-6; Nah. 1:2; Rom. 1:18. This aspect is why the word "repentance" is a necessity in the plan of salvation.
2. God is Holy
Another aspect of God’s character that necessitates the atonement is His holiness. “The nature of God is perfect and complete holiness. This is not an optional or arbitrary matter; it is the way God is by nature. He has always been absolutely holy. Being contrary to God’s nature, sin is repulsive to Him.
He cannot look upon it. He is compelled to turn away from it.” God’s infinite holiness causes Him to hate sin with a perfect hatred. God is so holy that before sinful men can come into His presence and have fellowship with Him the guilt of their sin must be removed and they must be clothed with perfect righteousness.
The attribute of God that is emphasized by Scripture above all other attributes (including love) is His holiness. “Who is like You, O LORD among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness” (Ex. 15:11). Jehovah is so holy that the mighty seraphim continually cry out before Him, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8).
When God created Adam and Eve, He made them in His own image (Gen. 1:27). Before they ate the forbidden fruit and fell into sin, they were holy and righteous. They were without any ethical spot or blemish. What happened to Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God’s command and sinned against Him? They
were cast out of God’s presence. Why? Because a holy God cannot have fellowship with people who are not holy. God is so infinitely holy that every sin that an individual commits merits death: physical, spiritual and eternal. God had warned Adam that the day that he disobeyed Him, he would certainly die
(Gen. 2:17). God’s holiness of intrinsic necessity set up a separation between Himself and all sinners. “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:1-2).
Once we understand the holiness of God then we can understand the severe penalty that sin deserves. When God demands that “the soul who sins must die”
(Ezek. 18:4), He is not setting forth an arbitrary penalty but is penalizing sinners exactly as His holy and righteous nature requires. Thus Paul writes: “knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death” (Rom. 1:32). Sin is wicked. It is a moral evil
that is the very opposite of holiness. God hates all workers of iniquity (Ps. 5:5) and is angry with the wicked every day (Ps. 7:11). Sin in thought, word
or deed is an abomination to the Lord. God is determined because of the immutable holiness of His nature to punish all sin with death. Because of who
God is (He is holy, righteous and just), and because of what sinners are (they are unholy, unrighteous and guilty), people have only two choices. They can
remain in their sin and unholiness and thus be forever cast away from God’s presence into hell or they can be obedient to Jesus Christ who as a
substitute paid the penalty in full by His death and provided a perfect holiness or righteousness by His life. That penalty can on be “remitted” by God’s chosen remedy for sin as described in Acts chapter two, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the REMISSION of sins
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Our obedience and His sacrifice!
3. The Sanction of God’s Law
God has given unto mankind a moral law, which is summarized in the Ten Commandments. God’s moral law helps us understand God’s righteousness and
holiness for His moral law reflects His character. For example, Jehovah commands us to be holy (Lev. 11:44). Why? Because He is holy (1 Pet. 1:16).
God also commands us not to lie (Dt. 5:20). Why? Because HE is truth itself (Jn. 14:6) and cannot lie (Heb. 6:18). Ethical absolutes are not philosophical
abstractions existing in some supposed realm of ideals. They are rooted in God’s very being and thus they are as immutable and eternal as God Himself.
The only reason that people have a sense of what is right and wrong is because man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26) and thus has the work of the
law written upon the heart (Rom. 2:15).
Why does the law of God necessitate the work of Christ? Because the law carries with it penal sanctions that also reflect God’s nature and character. Thus, these sanctions also are immutable and eternal. Remember, it is God’s holiness that causes Him to hate sin with a perfect hatred and God’s justice requires that sin receive its full penalty. And what is the penalty that God’s law threatens? It is death (Gen. 2:17; Dt. 27:36; Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 1:18,32; 6:23; Jas. 1:15; Rev. 20:14-15). Since God is true and cannot lie, these threatenings must necessarily be executed either upon the sinner himself or upon a supreme sacrifice qualified to be a substitute for the sinner.
“There is none righteous, no, not one...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:9, 23). Sin is a real criminal offense against God. “For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them’” (Gal. 3:10). “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).
Because God’s law and its cause are a reflection of His perfect character, He could not set aside the law and its penalty without denying Himself. Thus, to
redeem the elect a substitute had to endure the curse or penalty of the law in full. The law pronounces a curse upon the sinner and only Christ can eliminate
that curse. How? Not by setting aside the curse but by enduring the curse in the believer’s place. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)” (Gal. 3:13). “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). “He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb.9:26). “Christ was offered to bear the sin of many” (Heb. 9:28).
4. The Teaching of the Gospel
When the New Testament epistles explain the death of Christ, they do so in terms of necessity. For example, the author of Hebrews says that “without the
shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). The author of Hebrews speaking under divine inspiration not only says that blood is necessary but
only one type of blood will do—the blood of Jesus Christ. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Heb. 10:4). “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had
offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at the right hand of God... For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
(Heb. 10:11-12, 14). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin” (Eph. 1:7). Christ has “made peace through the blood of
the cross” (Col. 1:20).
Everything points to only one conclusion: Christ’s sinless life and sacrificial death was the only way that sinners could be saved. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6). “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” (Jn.
10:9). Peter “filled with the Holy Spirit” said regarding “Jesus Christ of Nazareth”: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Ac. 4:12). This Name is a necessity in salvation! No wonder Peter exclaimed, “Repent and be
baptized IN THE NAME of JESUS CHRIST. . .” For there is none other name! The blood is the remitter of sins and that application of remission by the blood is found only in full obedience to Acts 2:38.
The issue of the necessity of the atonement is a life and death, heaven or hell issue. Woe unto you if you turn away from such a glorious salvation. “When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty
angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be
punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power” (2 Th. 1:8-9).
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