Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. -Hebrews 9:22

There are glorious biblical truths that when properly understood cause our hearts to soar with the utmost sublimity. When seen by the light of the Holy Spirit these truths are both precious and delightful. Christian doctrine is given for our building up and for our understanding of the Glorious God to which we’ve been called into relationship.

It’s not surprising then, that these very truths that are so life-giving would be the object of Satan’s attack. In this series, I speak of some of the preeminent doctrines of the Christian faith, and address how they have come under attack in the present day.

It’s my hope that if you have never heard of these precious truths, that you will come to an understanding of them and partake of the joyous assurance that comes from the knowledge of God through them.

If this is all new to you, or if perhaps, you have somehow been led on a path that leads away from these great truths, it’s my hope that your discovery of these blessed truths will establish you in your faith and bring great joy to your heart. This is the reason, after all, that God has given us the Word of God.

 

An alarming trend

There is an alarming trend that’s taking place in many churches when it comes to foundational Christian doctrine. Sadly, I was driven to speak to this issue by personal experiences that I’ve had with churches that I’ve been involved with. I wish that I could say that my concerns are limited and contained to these specific churches, but unfortunately, the condition is widespread. There’s a great falling away from solid biblical Christian doctrine today. In one sense, that should not be surprising, since we are warned of a great apostasy that’s also going to take place in the last days.

How do Christians, and by implication, churches, drift away from truth?

By failing to drop an anchor into the waters of the God-breathed truths of the Word of God we end up drifting away from its most precious truths.

One factor that is almost certainly at play is a gradual relaxation in our attitude towards scripture. When we begin to hold the teachings of men above the teachings of the Word of God we’re entering dangerous waters.

We almost always drift away by degrees and not suddenly. It is the almost imperceptible alteration of truth that over time leads us far away from the scriptures.

I believe in most cases those who teach doctrine that fundamentally strays from the Bible have not arrived at that place maliciously. Therefore, I don’t generally question a person’s motives. I am, however, trying to turn the ship back in the right direction in whatever small way that I can, by pointing to the biblical truths that have once for all been handed down to the Saints.

Divinely loved ones, when giving every diligence to be writing to you concerning the salvation possessed in common by all of us, I had constraint laid upon me to write to you, beseeching you to contend with intensity and determination for the Faith once for all entrusted into the safe-keeping of the saints. -Jude 1:3

 

The Blood bought atonement of Jesus Christ

There’s scarcely anything in all the Bible that makes my heart sing like the blood-bought atonement of Jesus Christ. It was the central theme of the great Apostle Paul, and once grasped, it becomes the pinnacle truth for every blood-bought child of God!

There is nothing comparable that brings such joy and assurance to the children of God than being rooted and grounded in the atonement of Jesus Christ.

 

Christ, our propitiation

What was it that happened at the cross? Why did Jesus die there? The Apostle Paul makes much of the point by saying that our understanding of this is of “first importance”.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures-1 Corinthians 15:3-4

In this passage the Apostle Paul lays out three pivotal truths that are central to the gospel.

1. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
2. He was buried according to the Scriptures.
3. He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

At the top of the list of those things that the Apostle Paul considered as of first importance to the gospel, is that “Christ died for our sins”.

I’m appalled that I have met Christians, and been in churches, who somehow don’t understand the central truth that Christ died for our sins. This verse plainly tells us that the Old Testament scriptures foretold that Christ would die for our sins, and yet, there are people who call themselves Christians who reject, what for all practical purposes is, the very heart of the Gospel.

 

Another gospel?

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. – Galatisns 1:8

I was at a church a few years ago were someone was teaching a prophetic class. One evening when the leader got up to speak he confidently declared, “Jesus didn’t die for our sins”.

I was incredulous!

How in the world can people believe that they are “prophetic” while teaching things that are in direct denial of the scriptures?

As shocking as it was to hear this blatant heresy being taught, I think I was even more dismayed to find out that very few people at the church cared that it was even happening! I had to go to the leadership of the church and repeatedly press the point in order for it to be dealt with.

A number of years later I shared this story while I was talking with a friend from another church. To my surprise, she had absolutely no problem with the statement, “Jesus didn’t die for our sins”. She didn’t even bat an eye. In fact, she came out and told me it didn’t matter to her.

What the Apostle Paul referred to as of “first importance”, this woman was telling me was essentially unimportant to her! From her point of view, as long as Jesus rose from the dead that was all that really mattered.

How did we get to the point where a direct denial of the central truth of the Gospel no longer matters?

It’s astonishing, and it grieves me to the core. I’ve been watching this “falling away” from the central truths of the atonement for a long time now.

 

Drifting from the truth

In the early 2000s I witnessed the rise of what was then called, “The Emergent Church Movement”. Traditional doctrine came under attack as did the importance of the Word of God itself. Experiential faith was elevated and sound biblical doctrine was questioned, even devalued.

The belief system of the Emergent Church encouraged a man-centric faith and a reimagining of God. It resembles humanism more than it does traditional Christian faith.

The god of the Emergent Church began to look much more like us, and much less like the God of scripture!

Core doctrines about the sinfulness of man were tossed away and discarded. No longer was man considered to be “sinful by nature”. and God was stripped and sanitized of long held biblical attributes. Gone was the wrath of God. Gone was the One who presides as judge at the Great White Throne Judgment.

There was a time when it would have scarcely been necessary to defend the reality of the coming Great White Throne Judgment. The passage from Revelation that speaks of it, and the day of reckoning it declares, was widely held and believed among Christians. It is, after all, straight from the Bible, but it is nevertheless rejected by many today.

I will quote the passage at length because of the gravity of it. Everyone of us who has ever lived will one day face an ultimate reckoning with our Maker.

It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. -Hebrews 9:27

It’s only by understanding the Judgment that is to come that we can truly appreciate the importance of the atonement.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. -Revelation 20:11-15

The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ is what saves us from the horrific reality of the passage that you just read. Those who try to strip God of His wrath have no clear conception of what the cross was all about. It is the wrath of God which we need to be saved from!

For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. –1 Thessalonians 1:9

The atonement is fundamentally concerned with removing the wrath of God which we rightfully deserve.

God desired reconciliation between us and Him. In order for that to happen, God’s just anger towards sin needed to be dealt with. The sacrifice of His Son forever settled the issue, so that everyone who puts their trust in Jesus is forever and completely reconciled to God.

But God is constantly proving His own love to us, because while we were yet sinners, Christ in behalf of us died. Much more therefore, having been justified now by His blood, we shall be saved through Him from the wrath. -Romans 5:8-9

There are few Christians who will deny the fact that Jesus ransomed and redeemed us. That part of the atonement is readily accepted. It’s only when we begin to speak of being saved from “the wrath of God” that many close their ears and walk away. In their eyes, the idea of God having wrath which needs to be appeased is opposed to their notions of the love of God. They have constructed a view of God that eliminates wrath, because the idea of God, either possessing or expressing wrath, offends them. However, the scripture is very clear that the reason that Jesus died and shed his blood was to save us from the wrath of God!

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. -Romans 5:9

Somehow those who deny the wrath of God fail to believe that a Holy God could be justifiably angry about our sin. They also fail to see that Jesus took the punishment that we deserved, and by doing that demonstrated just how great His love really is!

Instead of punishing us, God took our punishment upon Himself. This is an incomparably astonishing love! Just the thought of it puts me in awe.

God’s wrath is a real thing. Denial of it is completely unscriptural. God punishes sin. He does not just overlook it, or say, “It’s okay, I forgive you”.

 

The justice of God

Not only is God a God of love, but He is also a God of justice.

God never violates any part of His nature in order to express any other part of His nature. In other words, although God in His very nature is perfect love, He is also as to His nature, perfectly just. He will not discard His justice simply because He wants to be loving!

How then does God go about showing love to those who actually deserve His wrath? The answer is found in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. -Romans 3:25

We can take a couple things away from this verse.

First, that it was God the Father who came up with the idea to sacrifice His Son for us. This being expressed in the words “whom God put forward as a propitiation…”

Second, we understand God’s reason for doing so. “Propitiation” means to turn aside the anger or wrath of God, with the idea in mind of being restored to His good graces and favor. So God is telling us that the blood sacrifice of His Son was done to take away His wrath, in order that we may be reconciled to Him and have nothing at all between us that would separate us anymore.

What possible reason could there be for God to consider it necessary to deal with His wrath concerning our sin in this way?

Reading on to the next verse we can understand the reason.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. -Romans 3:26

In other words, it was to prove that God is righteous, and that He does not just turn a blind eye to sin, but that He actually punishes it “so that He might be just”.

But the verse says more than that.

Not only does it show that God is perfectly just in punishing and dealing with sin, but also that He justifies (declares not guilty) all those who put their faith in Jesus Christ.

How is He able to do that?

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. -1 Peter 3:18

Jesus took our sins upon Himself and was punished for them on our behalf so that we might be reconciled to God.

The Gospel is astonishing because it tells us that God took the punishment for our sins upon Himself so that we wouldn’t have to be punished! This is perfect love!

The remedy for justly deserved wrath is the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. It’s at the cross that God’s wrath was appeased and taken away because Jesus bore the punishment that we deserved upon Himself when He died in our place.

In theological terms this is called “penal substitution”. Instead of us being punished for our sins, Jesus was punished in our place.

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. -Isaiah 53:5

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. -2 Corinthians 5:21

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.” -1 Peter 2:24

 

The heart of the Gospel

Having laid this groundwork I would like to further address the heart of the Gospel which is found in the word “propitiation”.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith…-Romans 3:23

In the Bible, propitiation is the act of turning away God’s wrath through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

There are pictures throughout the Old Testament that foreshadow Jesus as the sacrificial lamb. One of the clearest pictures is that of the Jewish Passover. The people were told that they needed to place the sacrificial blood over their doorposts to avert the Judgment of God that He was sending upon the Egyptians. Placing the sacrificial blood on their doorposts would protect them from the coming judgment.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. -Exodus 12:12-13

The Passover was a foreshadowing of what Jesus did at the cross by shedding His blood for us. The Apostle Paul refers to it in his letter to the Corinthians.

For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. -1 Corinthians 5:7

In other words, when Jesus bore our sins on the cross as the sacrificial Lamb of God, and was punished for them, the wrath of God was taken away. There is no longer any need to fear the Judgment of God because Jesus removed it for everyone who puts their trust in Him.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. -Romans 5:8-9

I have just stated the biblical doctrine of propitiatory atonement. It is the most central and critical teaching of the entire Bible. It is also under attack in many churches today.

 

Defending the truth with tears

Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. -Acts 20:30-31

The Apostle Paul was so passionate about defending the truth that day and night for three years he never stopped warning the Christians around him. He agonized over error that was being spread around the churches to the point where he says that he shed tears over it! How I pray that we could have that kind of passion and concern for truth in the church today.

The biblical doctrine of atonement is under constant assault by the devil. If you look back through the history of the church you will find that in every generation the doctrine of the atonement is attacked and distorted in one way or another. The reason for this is obvious- the atonement is the heart of the Gospel, and as the Apostle Paul said, of “first importance”. Is it any wonder that Satan would come to attack and deceive when it comes to the most important point of the Bible?

There’s an active assault on teaching that centers around the Cross of Christ.

One of the most egregious distortions of Biblical teaching on the atonement in our day rose out of the Emergent Church Movement, (mentioned earlier). Though this movement is no longer in existence, many of the errant teachings that were a part of it have filtered down to our present day and are being taught in various churches.

In 2003 a book written by Steve Chalke was published called, “The Lost Message of Jesus” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003). In the book, Chalke asserts that to believe that God the Father punished Jesus for our sins you’d have to believe that God the Father is a “cosmic child abuser”. In Chalke’s mind no loving father would ever punish one of his children by subjecting them to the cruel punishment of crucifixion. Chalke, therefore, claims that God would never punish His very own Son for our sins.

In making this claim Chalke directly contradicts the Word of God.

His argument is made purely from a human point of view, and does not take into account the Divine perspective given to us in the Bible.

The Bible is absolutely clear on this point- Jesus crucified on the cross was actually the predetermined plan of God!

This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death. -Acts 2:23

It’s entirely wrong to think that what happened at the cross was merely the result of religious rulers who hated Jesus and wanted to do away with Him. Oh, it was that, but it was much more than that!

It’s also entirely wrong, as some would assert, that the cross was the devil’s plan to do away with Jesus.

No, what the scriptures teach is that it was actually God’s plan for Jesus to go to the cross. Jesus was “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God”. God knew full well what those men were going to do to Jesus, and He used their sinful wicked acts to accomplish His ultimate plan to bring salvation.

God was not culpable in the sinful acts of those wicked men who crucified Jesus, but He knew what was in their heart, and He allowed it all to unfold, as part of His plan.

For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. -Acts 4:27

In other words, the cross was God’s idea! It was all a part of His plan.

When seen from a human point of view Jesus on the cross is a stumbling block. From the Divine perspective, however, it is most glorious!

Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. -1 Corinthians 1:22-24

 

A cosmic child abuser?

Far from the cross being “cosmic child abuse”, it was the ultimate display of God’s love.

When Jesus went to the cross it was the proof of both His love, and the Father’s love, for fallen humanity. He didn’t have to do it, but He did!

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. -Galatians 4:4

We see in this passage God’s desire and intent to reconcile us to Himself and bring us into His family! This is a cherished and most wonderful part of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.

Not only did Jesus come into the world at a specific moment in time with the intention of giving His life for all of us, but the events that unfolded that brought Him to the cross, and that eventually resulted in Him being nailed to it, were all a part of God’s plan.

The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again. -Luke 24:7

In this statement by Jesus it’s very clear that He was walking out the plan of His Heavenly Father. He knew exactly what needed to happen from the crucifixion to the resurrection. None of this was a surprise to either Him or His Father because it was all planned out. He even knew how many days He’d be in the grave before He rose again.

For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. – Matthew 12:40

Not only did Jesus go to the cross at a specific moment in human history, but in the heart and mind of God, He had already done it before the world was ever created!

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. -Revelation 13:8

Oh the glory of it! The wonder of it all! That God would send His Son to redeem and rescue a world that had utterly rejected Him!

God in His foreknowledge had a plan in place before the world was ever created and before man had ever sinned.

Who has ever known a love like that?

Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! -1 John 3:1

There were things that needed to happen for our redemption, and at the center of it all was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. He took the punishment that we deserved as the ultimate act of love.

I can think of nothing more outrageous than to assert that belief in the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross for our sins equates to believing in “cosmic child abuse”.

All I can do is echo the Apostle Paul.

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? -Romans 9:20

In other words, who in the world do we think we are to question what God has clearly revealed in the scriptures? How much more is this the case when God reveals things about the death of His Son? Just because we do not understand it with our puny human minds and our limited human wisdom, does not mean that the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross was anything less than glorious! Do you object to the grotesque means by which the Son of God died? Will your frail human reasoning not allow for it? Does it not fit your idea of what God should do?

Well, God never asked you for your opinion!

God chose the means of crucifixion in the death of His Son whether you like it or understand it. Remember the words that Jesus spoke? (“The Son of God must… be crucified.”) The Apostle Paul gloried in it, and perhaps we should do the same!

But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. -Galatians 6:14

I believe that Jesus suffered and was punished for my sins on the cross. I believe that the shedding of His blood and the death of the Son of God was necessary in order that I might be reconciled to God.

Does that belief make the Father a cosmic child abuser?

NEVER!

It’s one of the most outrageous and disgraceful statements I’ve ever heard. And yet, it’s still being repeated today, 21 years after Chalke’s book came out.

In fact, it came out of the mouth of my own Pastor one Sunday morning! I was in complete shock. I was both sickened and saddened.

Sickened because the statement feels quite blasphemous to me and is dishonoring to God. (For it is God Himself, who came up with the idea of sending His Son to the cross to be punished and die for our sins.)

Saddened, because at one time in his life, this man used to believe the things that I have written to you today about the atonement. But because of the influence of progressive Christianity, he has now turned his back on the traditional beliefs that he once embraced. Not only has he abandoned sound biblical doctrine as it pertains to the atonement, but he is actively preaching against it!

Let it be a warning to all of us. None of us are immune to the devil’s seductive lies.

It’s my prayer that this man will return to sound doctrine, for his own sake, and for the sake of those who listen to him.

Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you. -1 Timothy 4:16

While straying from sound biblical doctrine may not be purposeful, it is, nevertheless, serious. I love this man, and I love the people at this church, but there was no way that I could remain there while the atonement was being held in such dishonor and blatant error. Do you think that I’m being severe? Not as severe as the Apostle Paul!

I quoted it previously, but it bears repeating.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse! -Galatians 1:8

What was it that made Paul so passionate about the truth? And what is it that makes us so careless and unconcerned?

 

The same words; a different meaning

You will find that many religious sects all around the world use Christian terminology. They use all the Bible words, but they mean something different by them! The great danger in the church today is to believe that just because somebody is using the correct religious terminology that they are holding to the truth of the Bible. In fact, it’s possible to say all the correct words while having all the definitions completely wrong! It’s necessary then to closely examine the teachings of those we allow into our lives.

 

Concluding thoughts

The Apostle Paul dedicated his life to the proclamation and defense of the Gospel. He did so that those in his day, and those who would follow afterward, would have the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ in its purest form possible. Central to Paul’s message was “Christ, and Him crucified.” Pivotal to his understanding of the cross, was that Christ’s sacrificial death was a propitiation, i.e., the means by which the wrath of God would be turned away from sinners, thus reconciling us to God through the blood of Jesus.

The Apostle John is in agreement with the Apostle Paul concerning the atonement, stating in his epistle, 1st John, that Jesus Himself is “the propitiation for our sins“. In the gospel that bears his name, John also speaks of Jesus as being “the Lamb of God” pointing back to the Old Testament sacrificial system of substitutionary atonement.

The Apostle Peter also declares the substitutionary atonement of Jesus in the most unequivocal terms possible.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. -1 Peter 2:24

In the same passage Peter quotes Isaiah 53, which is possibly the strongest chapter in the entire Bible depicting the punishment that Jesus received when He bore our sins.

I’ve been very careful to use the Bible as my source and final authority for the points that I’ve been making concerning the atonement. I’m very aware that those who reject the doctrine of penal substitution often muddy the waters by claiming that notions of Christ being punished for our sins found their origin during the time of the Reformation. Nothing could be further from the truth! 

Substitutionary atonement was the doctrine of the Apostles. Christ, as our propitiatory sacrifice was the doctrine of the Apostles.

These great truths did not find their origin in the Reformation, they were preached by select eminent Apostles hand-picked and chosen by the Lord Jesus Himself. The propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus is the very Word of God that was preached by men like the Apostle Paul, the Apostle John, and the Apostle Peter.

The Apostle Paul treated the importance of this with the utmost seriousness. It is beyond me, that there are those who would give little concern to this central truth of the Christian faith, even daring to alter the clear teaching of the atonement that was handed down by the Apostles!

The Apostle Paul was of such a mind that even if he himself began to teach something contrary to what he had previously taught about the gospel that he should be accursed! He goes so far as to say that even if an angel came down from heaven teaching that which is contrary to what he had taught concerning the gospel that the angel should not be listened to, but rather accursed. Make no mistake, the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is at the very heart of the Gospel. How dare we then, put up with those who are in our midst who teach contrary to the apostolic doctrine of the atonement.

I am not saying that those who teach incorrect doctrine are necessarily unsaved. The thief on the cross knew no doctrine at all, but through faith in Jesus was saved!

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:42-43

This accords with the biblical record in many other places.

Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” -Acts 16:30-31

Should we take from this that as long as a person is saved through faith in Jesus that Biblical doctrine really doesn’t matter? No, not all!

But as for you, speak the things that are consistent with sound doctrine. -Titus 2:1

Sound doctrine matters because it teaches us things about God that we would have no way of knowing without the revelation of the Bible. God gave us biblical truth so that we could know Him better and have assurance in our faith. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of sound doctrine is the foundational certainty that it lays in our life. It teaches us of the nature of God and the things that He has done, and brings an assurance that we would not otherwise have. Many Christians struggle with assurance in their walk with God because they have not been properly taught.

At its best, sound doctrine builds up and edifies and strengthens our relationship with God. And it’s worst, false doctrine can actually lead people away from God!

The atoning sacrifice of Jesus is the very heart of the Gospel. Having a correct understanding of it will greatly enrich your Christian life.