Redemption—Accomplished and Applied - Dordt College Homepages

A Summary of Redemption—Accomplished and Applied by John Murray
Part I: Redemption Accomplished
Chapter 1: The Necessity of the Atonement
John Stam
God’s free love for sinners is the source of the atonement. In order to bring about His plan of salvation,
God having elected some out of His own good pleasure, the atonement was absolutely necessary.
Murray makes several arguments from scripture, including the following: “The cross of Christ is the
supreme demonstration of the love of God…would the cross of Christ be a supreme exhibition of love if
there were no necessity for such costliness?”
Chapter 2: The Nature of the Atonement
In general, the work of Christ may be called obedience, and this obedience may be divided into active
obedience and passive obedience. These terms do not refer to different periods of his life or any such
thing; rather, they “emphasize the two distinct aspects of our Lord’s vicarious obedience.” The active
obedience refers to Christ’s perfectly fulfilling the law of God. The passive obedience refers to Christ’s
bearing the condemnation and infinite wrath of God against sin.
“The more specific categories in terms of which the Scripture sets forth the atoning work of Christ are
sacrifice, propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption.”
1. Sacrifice. Sacrifice has to do with the giving of a life in the place of another to remove the liability of
the wrath and curse of God for sin. The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament help us understand the
sacrifice of Christ in some ways. Christ was not only the sacrifice, but he was also the Priest, our great
High Priest, who offered up himself.
2. Propitiation. “To propitiate means to ‘placate,’ ‘pacify,’ ‘appease,’ ‘conciliate.’” When we say that
Christ was the propitiation for our sins, we mean that Christ satisfied the infinite wrath of God for our
sins. He did not change God’s wrath into love, but rather perfectly satisfied it. Propitiation also has
reference to covering our sins before God to bring cleansing and forgiveness.
3. Reconciliation. Our sin has brought an alienation between God and us. Murray goes to great lengths
to show that the reconciliation here in view is the alienation of God from us, not our alienation from
God. We must be restored to God’s favor, but first, the ground of the enmity between us must be
removed. The death of Christ accomplished this, and so made this reconciliation possible.
Reconciliation is something we receive from God.
4. Redemption. This word conveys the idea of ransom, “the securing of a release by the payment of a
price.” Jesus gave his life as the price of the ransom for us. The question, then, is, “From what bondage
are we freed?” There are several aspects of this bondage. ( I) Law. (a) We are freed from the curse of
the law (Gal. 3:13), the wrath due us for sin. (b) We are freed from the ceremonial law. (c) We are freed

from the law of works. We are no longer bound to justify ourselves by keeping the law perfectly. (II) Sin.
We are freed from both the guilt of sin (we are justified) and the pollution of sin (we are sanctified).
Chapter 3: The Perfection of the Atonement
The focus of this chapter is to give us a right understanding of this topic in opposition to errors of the
Roman Catholic Church. Those for whom Christ died make no satisfaction for their sin. The Father
chastises them in love in various ways in this life, but this in no way makes satisfaction for their sins. To
say that it did would be to say that the work of Christ was imperfect and would “rob the Redeemer of
the glory of his once-for-all accomplishment.” The atonement was accomplished once for all at a
specific point in history. It can never be repeated. It was completely unique. And it was intrinsically
efficacious. Christ completed all that was necessary for the salvation of his people.
Chapter 4: The Extent of the Atonement
Christ did not die for the sins of all people. Murray refutes the argument that some verses say that
Christ did indeed die for all by looking at the context of some of those verses and by looking at the
teaching in other parts of Scripture. The words, “all” or “every,” do not always mean all people. They
must be taken in context. For example, in Hebrews 2:9 we read, “…that he [Jesus] should taste death
for every man.” But in the verses that follow, we see that the writer “is speaking of the many sons to be
brought to glory (ver. 10), of the sanctified who with the sanctifier are all of one (ver. 11), of those who
are called the brethren of Christ (ver. 12), and of the children which God had given to him (ver. 13).” It
is true that there are benefits from Christ’s death which are given to all people, but salvation is not one
of them. Murray next proceeds to set forth that Christ died, not to make salvation possible for all men,
but to secure salvation for the elect. After extensive arguments from several Scripture passages, he
comes to 1 John 2:2: “And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole
world.” The explanation of this verse is summarized in the following: “It was necessary for John to set
forth the scope of Jesus’ propitiation” (people from every nation), “the exclusiveness of Jesus as the
propitiation” (Jesus is the only way to salvation), and “the perpetuity of Jesus’ propitiation” (it endures
through all time).
Chapter 5: Conclusion
We should base our beliefs about the mediatorial work of Christ on the Bible alone. We must not seek
to make analogies between our experiences and the work of Christ, for doing so only raises us up to his
level or drags him down to ours. There can be no true comparison. Christ satisfied the infinite wrath of
God to secure salvation for his own. This he did because of God’s great and eternal love.

Part II: Redemption Applied
Chapter 1: The Order of Application
God supplies every need in the full and free gift of salvation to his people. There are a number of
aspects into which the application of redemption may be divided, and there is also an order in which
they take place. Murray shows from John 3:3,5; 1 John 3:9; 1:12; and Ephesians 1:13 that there is
indeed an order to the parts of the application of redemption. From primarily Romans 8:28-30 and then
filling in the rest of the parts, he finds the order to be the following: calling, regeneration, faith and
repentance (conversion), justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification.
Chapter 2: Effectual Calling
There is a call of the gospel which goes out to all people; this is the universal call. But the call that the
New Testament almost always refers to is the effectual call to God’s chosen people. Its name is selfexplanatory—this
call is effective to “usher men into a state of salvation.” God is the author of this
effectual call, and in particular it is God the Father that thus calls. We have nothing to do with its
initiation—we depend completely on God’s sovereign grace. The call is a summons which is inherently
efficacious. “The call is also a high, holy, and heavenly calling.” We are “called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7).
This call is of determinate purpose; it is eternal; and it is in Christ that the pattern of this call was made,
the Father working with the Son. Murray makes several arguments to show that calling is indeed prior
to regeneration in the order of application, thought he admits it makes little difference in the end.
Chapter 3: Regeneration
How can we, who are by nature incapable of doing any good, answer God’s call? “God’s call, since it is
effectual, carries with it the operative grace whereby the person called is enabled to answer the call and
to embrace Jesus Christ as he is freely offered in the gospel. God’s grace reaches down to the lowest
depth of our need and meets all the exigencies of the moral spiritual impossibility which inheres in our
depravity and inability. And that grace is the grace of regeneration.” In regeneration, God makes us a
new creation by the Holy Spirit. We are born again; this is not something it was possible for us to
choose, just as we did not choose to be born of our mothers. This regeneration is entirely of the Holy
Spirit. From several texts, Murray shows that “Regeneration is the beginning of all saving grace in us”;
repentance and faith, etc., are the consequences of regeneration. Now it must not be thought that
regeneration can then be “abstracted from the saving graces which are its effects”; no, regeneration and
its fruits are inseparable.
Chapter 4: Faith and Repentance
Faith
By regeneration, we are enabled to believe in Christ. “He is the absorbing preoccupation of faith.” First,
Murray looks at the warrant of faith. How does the sinner know that Christ will save if he believes? In
answer, we have both the “Universal Offer of the Gospel” and the “All-Sufficiency and Suitability of the
Saviour Presented.” With regard to the former, we see that in both the Old and New Testaments, there

are universal calls, exhortations, and commands to repent. With regard to the latter, we see the
following. “The sufficiency of his [Christ’s] saviourhood rests upon the work he accomplished once for
all when he died upon the cross and rose again in triumphant power…It is not the possibility of salvation
that is offered to lost men but the Saviour himself and therefore salvation full and perfect.” Second,
Murray looks at the nature of faith. There are three aspects of faith: knowledge, conviction and trust.
We must have a knowledge of Christ and his work; we must assent to the truth about Christ and have a
conviction “that Christ’s sufficiency as Saviour meets the desperateness and hopelessness of our sin and
misery”; and we must place our trust in the person of Christ.
Repentance
Murray quotes the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a
sinner out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and
hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after new obedience” (Q. 87).
“It is impossible to disentangle faith and repentance.” Repentance is “turning from sin unto God,” and
faith is “believing in Christ for salvation from sin.” “Repentance consists essentially in change of heart
and mind and will.” We repent of our own particular sins and come to the cross of Christ for forgiveness
and cleansing.
Chapter 5: Justification
Since the wrath of God is the just recompense for man’s sin, we must ask, “How can sinful man be right
with God?” “Justification is the answer and justification is the act of God’s free grace.” It is God and
not us who justifies us. Justification does not make a person righteous; rather, it is the declaration that
the person, as respecting the law, is righteous. Justification is judicial; it “is a judgment of God with
respect to us.” How can God thus do something it would be sinful for us to do—justify the ungodly? In
the act of justification, God not only pronounces us righteous, but also constitutes us righteous: he
imputes the righteousness of Christ to us. Faith precedes justification, and we are justified by faith
alone. Faith is a gift of God, and faith “receives and rests upon…Christ and his righteousness.” Thus
justification is, once again, entirely of God’s grace.
Chapter 6: Adoption
“By adoption the redeemed become sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty; they are introduced
into and given the privileges of God’s family.” Adoption is inseparable from regeneration and
justification. “Adoption is, like justification, a judicial act.” It is a change in status, not a change of our
nature. “Those adopted into God’s family are also given the Spirit of adoption whereby they are able to
recognize their sonship and exercise the privileges which go with it.” Murray finds from Scripture that it
is “specifically God the Father who is the agent of this grace” of adoption.
Chapter 7: Sanctification
Sanctification is closely related to both effectual calling and regeneration. In those who have been
effectually called and regenerated, sin no longer has power and dominion. This does not mean that

elievers are freed from all sin. There is, however, conflict in the believer against sin, and sin “does not
have the mastery.” It is God the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us. “The mode of the Spirit’s operation in
sanctification is encompassed with mystery,” and we are completely dependent upon him. This
dependence on the Holy Spirit in sanctification does not exclude our own efforts. “All working out of
salvation on our part is the effect of God’s working in us.”
Chapter 8: Perseverance
“It is possible to give all the outward signs of faith in Christ and obedience to him, to witness for a time a
good confession and show great zeal for Christ and his kingdom and then lose all interest and become
indifferent, if not hostile, to the claims of Christ and of his kingdom.” Temporary faith can take a person
a long way, but yet not far enough. To better understand this, we need to have a proper understanding
of the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. The doctrine is not termed the Security of the Saints
(with respect to their salvation), but the Perseverance of the Saints. Those who are saints (believers)
will persevere in the faith. “It is not true that the believer is secure however much he may fall into sin
and unfaithfulness.” This is so because the believer is secure because he “cannot abandon himself to
sin.” “It is true that a believer…may fall into grievous sin and backslide for lengthy periods.” But he
“cannot come under the dominion of sin.” The true believer will persevere, for he is kept by God. If we
would be saints, let us persevere.
Chapter 9: Union with Christ
Union with Christ “is not simply a step in the application of redemption; when viewed, according to the
teaching of Scripture, in its broader aspects it underlies every step of the application of redemption.”
“The fountain of salvation itself in the eternal election of the Father is ‘in Christ.’” God’s people “are
represented as united to Christ in his death, resurrection, and exaltation to heaven…It is in Christ that
the people of God are created anew…It is in Christ that Christian life and behavior are conducted…It is in
Christ that believers die…Finally, it is in Christ that the people of God will be resurrected and glorified.”
Murray proceeds to speak of the nature of union with Christ. First, it is Spiritual. “’Spiritual’ in the New
Testament refers to that which is of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, “the bond of this union is the Holy Spirit
himself.” Second, it is mystical. This has, at least in part, reference to the mystery of union with Christ
and to communion with him. Murray finally points out that union with Christ brings with it union with
the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 10: Glorification
Glorification is the completion of the application of redemption. “Glorification does not refer to the
blessedness upon which the spirits of believers enter at death…It is the complete and final redemption
of the whole person when in the integrity of body and spirit the people of God will be conformed to the
image to the risen, exalted, and glorified Redeemer, when the very body of their humiliation will be
conformed to the body of Christ’s glory (cf. Phil 3:21).” All of Christ’s church from all time will be
glorified together at the resurrection. Glorification is closely associated with both “the coming of Christ
in glory,” and “the renewal of creation.”