REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED AND APPLIED-1
I. Murray Notes
The time has come to discuss Systematic Theology.
A. By definition, Systematic Theology is systematic. Systematic means that the ideas or objects are organized with reference to their relationships or connections. The ideas, principles or objects are organized as a coherent body, organism, or system. Often is the case in a system that if you change one part, many other parts will be affected. But systematic of what? With theology, it represents a scientific enquiry into the contents of the Bible with a view to bringing certain topics into definition, relationship and organization. Murray gives us a topical organization of certain church doctrines as they are given meaning by the Bible. These are human ideas, though often they are historic church doctrines, shaped by and dependent on Scripture. I mention church doctrine because these ideas a bit above mere thoughts of men as they have passed through the judgments of counsels of men in churches throughout history. Murray limits himself to the atonement, that is, the work of Christ on the cross. What happened there in the way of substitution and redemption of souls is the subject of his book.
Systematic Theology is also a reflection on the nature of reality itself, with all of its length and breadth, height and depth. Since we are dealing with God’s own character and works, we are dealing with everything that he has made and given to us. Reality is given to us in systematic packages, it seems. It is hard to imagine any part of the natural world that man has not put into a system. For example, an encyclopedia is a book or books that contain all of what our Western culture calls important knowledge. It has in it all literature, philosophy, science and religion. The Greek word behind it is en-kuklo-paedeia, or “cycle of instruction for children.” Look at the encyclopedia. At first it is books organized alphabetically, though some have suggested that this rationalistic organization makes no sense. Knowledge is not a product of the alphabet, but of organized systems like biology, botany, astronomy and so on. Look at the articles within each heading, and you will see further organization of each topic. Consider Chemistry: we have a periodic table of elements organized by atomic weight. The idea of an element is that every material substance can be reduced in value to its atoms, and those atoms make up the elements. There are further organizations within the periodic table: there are categories of elements called gases, metals, heavy metals, rare earths and categories I have never heard of. In addition, the table is not closed. Occasionally, someone makes a new discovery of an element, perhaps on a star or in a physics experiment; and the new element is added to the table.
We are alerted by the chemicals that everywhere we look in nature we see at first a small package, but when we open it up it becomes an immense package of data. No wonder, then, that data storage has become such a large part of our national interest. And Facebook is a data storage program. In everything we touch, whether it is a tree or a snail, there is an immense package of information. And so with theology we have immense packages of information that we seek in our human way to place into some organization. We have a perplexity because God himself is not a system, but a person; and yet we do not shy away from describing him along certain lines of orthodox doctrine because that is man’s way with everything. Or to put it more deeply, it is God’s way to give us knowledge which we must seek to understand.
B. Systematic Theology is historic and polemic in nature. That is to say, there is a historical tradition behind most of theology which has an argumentative or strident quality about it. It is not as though early church thinkers just sat and developed categories. The early church needed a way to defeat Gnosticism. By developing orthodox doctrines of Christ and Scripture she could represent what she really believed, give comfort to her members and defeat the forces of error that were outside her walls seeking to mislead and undermine her. Montanism and its spirit-led members were to be defeated by the correct doctrine of Scripture.
In the Reformation, the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from the works of the law was the polemic or argument against a Roman Catholic Church that was teaching meritorious works. Higher up, Luther saw that Rome was fighting the predestination of God, which deprived man of merit, salvation being totally dependent on the good pleasure of God and his eternal decree. The Reformation would produce the most succinct, well thought-out description of evangelical religion ever written; and it is polemical against Romanism.
The development of a fully Reformed theology in history ought to encourage us, since we may confidently assert that in many ways certain Reformed creeds, confessions and theology have achieved the highest view of God and man yet evolved in the church of Jesus Christ. On this road of theological understanding, we are not merely moving forward towards assured results in our knowledge, but that knowledge itself is moving upon us with its developments, encouragements and insights.
This, then, is to place us in a fight with simple Bible exegesis. There are certain issues that cannot be resolved simply—the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of Scripture, justification and sanctification. All these have become part of a coherent, organic system of faith. Our enemies use the Bible, too; but sometimes we have to challenge their doctrinal foundations. Such is the case with Arminianism, Romanism, Liberalism and neo-orthodoxy. Likewise, in our culture, we must face the subject that Dr. deVries loves to cite: postmodern relativism and deconstructionism.
C. Finally, theology is about God, as the very name indicates. The Gospel of John speaks immediately about the nature and functions of the Godhead. As an indication of panorama, John makes many explicit allusions or references to Genesis 1. John tells us that the Father and the Son are members of the Trinity, and that God sent his son into the world to redeem it, and that God is glorified in the death and resurrection of his son. Theology is related to the persons and work of the three members of the Godhead. In fact, one may see in the word “theology,” “theos + logos,” God-Word. Logos is the special title given by John to the son.
REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED AND APPLIED BY John A. Murray
Murray (1898-1975) was founding professor of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and one of the founding members of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He taught at Westminster 1930-1966. Besides the material in the four-volume Collected Writings, his primary published works are a commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (previously included in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series but now superseded by Douglas J. Moo's commentary), Redemption Accomplished and Applied, Principles of Conduct, The Imputation of Adam's Sin, Baptism, and Divorce. His thought is frankly historic, Trinitarian and polemical. He restricts himself to areas of theology where he feels that previous treatments could use some additions or corrections. His RAA asserts clearly and definitively that redemption was planned in heaven by the eternal decree of God, accomplished on earth by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and applied to the various needs of the human heart by the Holy Spirit.
Chapter I – The Necessity of the atonement, i.e., blood sacrifice. Murray notes that while God is love, his love is elective, sovereign, gracious and distinguishing. B. B. Warfield, one of Murray’s predecessors at Princeton Theological Seminary, has said that the benchmark of true Calvinism is the sovereign particularism of grace. The background from which redemption proceeds is the eternal counsel of God (Eph. 1:4-5*). And it is love that elects and predestinates (Rom. 8:29-30). Next Murray asks, “Why the God-Man”? We seek to know the reason or necessity of the atonement by Christ. Why did he die? Why the cross of all possible deaths? This brings us to the question of the necessity. There are two answers given: (1) Hypothetical necessity vs. (2) Consequent absolute necessity.
In the first, God could have forgiven without atonement. The shed blood could have been dispensed with by God’s fiat.
In the second, there is no absolute necessity for God to save, but given that sinners are elect in eternity, it was necessary to them in this and only this way. Salvation is based upon God’s gracious decree to save, and it is based on God’s own perfect nature as love. It is the reality of God’s election, grace and favor, not the hypothesis of it.
Reasons for the blood atonement:
1) Scripture passages indicate that it was required by divine appointment. (Heb. 2:10, 17)
2) The alternative to the cross is the perdition of the lost (Jn. 3:14-16)
3) Sin must be removed and this only by Christ’s two natures and his work (Heb. 1:1-3; 2:9-18; 9:9-14; 22-28). The blood shedding of Jesus was necessary to achieve the ends contemplated of removing sin. Heb. 9 indicates that there had to be a heavenly blood-letting, not merely the earthly, Levitical offering which is patterned after it. What necessity was there in heaven?
a. The reality and gravity of sin make expiation necessary.
b. The nature of Christ’s offering are bound up with his person
c. The heavenly things needing Christ’s sacrifice are called true.
Sum is that Christ’s sacrifice to take away sin is necessary and not merely hypothetical.
4) Justification implies righteousness compatible with our situation.
5) The cross of Christ is the supreme demonstration of the love of God.
The vindicatory justice of God requires it.
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