Dogmatic Theology Vol 2 - Shedd - XXV - Chapter 2 Vicarious atonement continued

Required reading  

Dogmatic Theology Vol 2 by William G.T. Shedd (Available from Amazon or here) - Continue Chapter 2 'Vicarious atonement' by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'Respecting the possibility of the substitution of penalty, it is to be observed: 1. In the first place, that the punishment inflicted by justice is aimed, strictly speaking, not at the person of the transgressor, but at his sin.' (Page 451)

My summary  

As we continue our study of the atonement, Shedd proceeds to notice some further characteristics of it:

(i) atonement is correlated to justice, not to benevolence;

(ii) an atonement for sin, of one kind or the other, if not personal then vicarious, is necessary, not optional;

(iii) an atonement, when made, naturally and necessarily cancels legal claims;

(iv) the vicarious satisfaction of justice is a mode or form of mercy;

(v) the vicarious satisfaction of justice is the highest mode or form of mercy, because it is mercy in the form of self-sacrifice;

(vi) the vicarious satisfaction of justice is the only mode of exercising mercy that is possible to a just Being.

What grabbed me

I liked the explanation of the mathematical value of Christ's death: 'The other injustice alleged in the objection, relates to the divine law and government. It is urged that when the unbeliever is personally punished, after an infinite vicarious satisfaction for human sin has been made, justice, in this case, gets more than its dues ; which is as unjust as to get less. This is a mathematical objection, and must receive a mathematical answer. The allied excess in the case is like the addition of a finite number to infinity, which is no increase. The everlasting suffering of all mankind, and still more of only a part, is a finite suffering. Neither the sufferer, nor the duration, is mathematically infinite ; for the duration begins, though it does not end. But the suffering of the God-man is mathematically infinite, because his person is absolutely infinite. When, therefore, any amount of finite human suffering is added to the infinite suffering of the God-man, it is no increase of value. Justice, mathematically, gets no more penalty when the suffering of lost men is added to that of Jesus Christ, than it would without this addition. The law is more magnified and honored by the suffering of incarnate God, than it would be by the suffering of all men individually, because its demand for a strictly infinite satisfaction for a strictly infinite evil is more completely met. In this sense, 'Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound," Rom. 5 : 20.'

The suffering of the infinite God is infinite.  Full atonement can it be? Alleluia. What a Saviour!

Next week's reading    

Continue Chapter 2 'Vicarious atonement' by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'Having considered the nature and value of Christ's atonement, we are prepared to consider its extent.' (Page 464 of my edition)

Now it's your turn

Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.