God's Legal Demands?

Jonaitis said:

that the substitutionary atonement is not only essential to the gospel, but is the gospel itself,

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There is more to the gospel than the reason Jesus died and rose again, but certainly the atonement is at the heart of the gospel.

Jonaitis said:

Most among the Reformed would say that the substitutionary atonement is not only essential to the gospel, but is the gospel itself, and that to deny it is to deny the faith. Of course, this is not to say that the other theories cannot be taken in light of and an analogous of Christ's substitution to God's legal demands.

How important is a specific atonement theory in the Christian faith and/or when presenting the gospel? What atonement theory do you ascribe to, or do you find a common ground in them all?

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"God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.."
Jesus Christ of Nazareth restored the relationship once lost through Adam by His sacrifice for humanity. He tore the veil in two and subsequently released His Holy Spirit to anyone who believes. He now makes His Home in each and every beliver with the promise of everlasting life. Without atonement there is no forgivness of sin and the second death prevails. Blessings.

Jonaitis said:

Most among the Reformed would say that the substitutionary atonement is not only essential to the gospel, but is the gospel itself, and that to deny it is to deny the faith. Of course, this is not to say that the other theories cannot be taken in light of and an analogous of Christ's substitution to God's legal demands.

How important is a specific atonement theory in the Christian faith and/or when presenting the gospel? What atonement theory do you ascribe to, or do you find a common ground in them all?

Click to expand...

Substitutionary atonement is the model you find in the sacrificial system. IT is the model in Lev 16 - Day of Atonement.
It is the model in 1 John 2:2 "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not for our sins only - but for the sins of the whole world"
It is the model in 2 Cor 5 "He made Him who knew no sins to become sin in our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"
It is the model in Is 53 where He takes stripes "for US to whom the stripes were DUE"

So while I am not a Calvinist or Reformed - I certainly affirm that the Bible teaches substitutionary atonement.